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ROBERT    OWEN 

VOL.    I 


ROBERT 

^    BIOGRAPHY 

By    FRANK     POD^ 

I 

Author  of  "Modern  Spiritualis 
in  Psychical  ResearcJi 


WITH 
TWO 


ROBERT   OWEN 

A    BIOGRAPHY   ^    ^ 
By    FRANK     PODMORE 

Author  of  "Modern  Spiritualism,  "Studies 
in  Psychical  Research,"  etc. 


WITH  FORTY'FOUR  ILLUSTRATIONS, 

TWO  PHOTOGRAVURE  PLATES,  AND  FACSIMILES 


Vol.   1 


New  York 

D.  APPLETON   AND   COMPANY 

1907 


L 


THE  "EW  YORK 
PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


aONS 

L 


PRiyTED  /.V  GREAT  BRITAIN 


PREFACE 


ROBERT  OWEN  died  in  1858.  Up  to  January, 
1905,  four  biographies  of  him,  and  four  only, 
had  appeared,  all  in  English — the  last  having  been 
written  more  than  twenty  years  ago/  When,  in  1901, 
I  formed  the  intention  of  adding  another  to  the  list, 
I  was  moved  less  by  a  sense  of  the  inadequacy  of  the 
work  of  my  predecessors,  than  by  my  own  desire  to 
treat  of  so  congenial  a  theme.  In  a  word,  I  made  up 
my  mind,  as  I  supposed,  to  write  because  I  wanted  to 
write.  But  a  subsequent  series  of  coincidences  has  led 
me  to  question  whether  in  following  my  own  pleasure 
I  was  not  the  unconscious  instrument  of  larger  forces, 
and    the  impulse   which    I   held   at   the   time  to   be    the 

t  spontaneous  outcome  of  my  own  volition  part  of  a  wider 
•^  movement    in    the    world   of  thought,    the    existence  of 

^^- which  I  had  scarcely  suspected. 

'  Robert  Owen  and  his  Social  Philosophy,  by  W.   L.  Sargant,    i860. 
Robert  Owen  .  .  .  the  Founder  of  Socialis77i  in  England,  by  A.  J, 
Booth,  M.A.,  1869. 
^       Life  of  Robert  Owen,   Philadelphia,    1866   (published   anonymously, 
5  but  since  acknowledged  to  be  by  F.  A.  Packard). 

3        The  Life,  Times  and  Labours  of  Robert  Owe?i,  by  Lloyd  Jones,  first 
^  edition  (posthumous),  1889.     Lloyd  Jones  died  in  1886. 

There  is  also  a  small  pamphlet,  Life  and  Last  Days  of  Robert  Owen^ 
by  G.  J.  Holyoake,  1859. 


vi  PREFACE 

For,  a  few  months  after   I   had   definitely   formulated 
my   own   project,   I   learnt  that   another    Englishman,  who 
subsequently   withdrew    in    my    fivour,    was    entertaining 
the  same    idea.      Again,   in    the    course    of    1903,   whilst 
my  own  work  was  scarcely  begun,   I   made  the  acquaint- 
ance   successively    of   a    (ierman    lady,    Fraulein    Simon, 
and    a     Frenchman,     iM.    Kdouard     Doll^ans,    who     had 
conceived,   about   the    same    time    as   myself,   the   idea  of 
writing    a    biography    of    the    great    Socialist.^      In     the 
previous  year,  1902,  appeared  the  first  adequate  account 
— for    which    the    world    had    been   content   to   wait   for 
three-quarters  of  a  century — of  Owen's  great  Communal 
Experiment  at  New   Harmony. "'      And   finally,   when  the 
present   book   was  already   far  advanced,  a  collection    of 
letters  written  to  or  by  Owen,  which  had  been  lost  sight 
of  for  more  than  a  generation,   was  found  in  a  lumber- 
room    and    forwarded    to   the    late    G.   J.   Holyoake,    by 
whom    it    was    handed    on    for   safe   keeping  to  the  Co- 
operative  Union    at   Manchester.      The   timely  discovery 
of  this  correspondence,  of  which   1    have   made   such   use 
as   my  opportunities  permitted,   furnishes  a  retrospective 
justification — if  further   justification    is    needed — for    the 
project  formed   five  years  ago.^ 

'  Both  these  lives  have  already  appeared.  Robert  Owen  :  sein  Leben 
und  seine  BcdeutuHg  fiir  die  Gegemvart,  by  Helene  Simon.    Jena,  1905. 

Robert  Owen,  by  Kdouard  DollC-ans.     Paris,  1905. 

'   The  AeTv  Harfnony  Communities,  by  C'leorge  HrouningiLockvvood. 

'  All  the  letters  quoted  in  the  following  pages,  when  no  other  source 
is  indicated,  are  in  this  Collection,  which  is  not  yet  catalogued.  The 
letters  date  from  the  year  1823,  and  include  a  few  written  to  or  by 
Owen  on  his  tour  in  Ireland  in  that  year.  From  the  fact  that  the  letters 
begin  just   where  the  Autobiography  leaves   off,   it   seems  probable  that 


PREFACE 


Vll 


Amongst  those  who  have  assisted  me  to  obtain  In- 
formation, and  have  lent  or  given  valuable  books  and 
documents,  I  have  to  render  special  thanks  to  Mr.  T. 
Parry  Jones,  of  Newtown — the  place  of  Owen's  birth 
and  of  his  death — to  Mr.  William  George  Black, 
Professor  Earl  Barnes,  Mr.  J.  C.  Gray,  Secretary  of  the 
Co-operative  Union,  Mr.  A.  Dransfield,  of  the  Working- 
Men's  Institute  and  Public  Library,  New  Harmony, 
Indiana,  Mrs.  Templeton,  Mr.  William  Tebb,  Mr.  C. 
Godfrey  Gumpel,  Mr.  C.  S.  Loch  and  the  Council  of 
the  Charity  Organisation  Society.  To  other  friends  I 
render  cordial  acknowledgment  for  help  given. 

the  letters  form  part  of  the  material  collected  by  Owen  in  his  life-time 
for  the  purpose  of  his  Autobiography.  I  have  found  only  two  letters 
dated  before  1823  (both  of  which  are  referred  to  in  the  following  pages), 
and  these  evidently  owe  their  preservation  to  the  date,  which  is  very 
indistinct  in  each  case,  having  been  misread.  The  Collection  includes 
a  bundle  containing  several  hundred  letters  written  by  Owen  during  the 
last  seven  or  eight  years  of  his  life  to  his  personal  friend,  attendant  and 
factotum,  James  Rigby.  Most  of  the  letters,  some  3,000  in  all,  are  docketed 
by  Rigby,  but  in  a  few  cases  the  docket  is  in  the  handwriting  of  William 
Pare. 

P.P. 

March^  1906. 


CONTENTS 

VOL.    I 


CHAPTER    I 

BOYHOOD 


Parentage — Description  of  Newtown — Cliildish  Adventures — 
His  Schooling — Becomes  Usher  at  Seven — His  Reading 
— Acquaintance  with  James  Donne — Helps  in  a  Shop — 
Journeys  to  London — Takes  Situation  at  Stamford  with 
Mr.  McGuffog — Early  Religious  Experiences — Takes 
Situation  in  London i 

CHAPTER    II 

THE    INDUSTRIAL    REVOLUTION 

General  Survey — Gradual  Rise  of  Capitalist  Industries — 
Invention  of  the  Spinning-jenny,  the  Water-frame,  the 
Mule — The  Power  Loom— Rapid  Growth  of  the  Cotton 
Trade — And  of  Manchester 24 

CHAPTER   III 

LIFE    IN    MANCHESTER 

Owen  takes  Situation  with  Mr.  Satterfield — Undertakes  the 
Manufacture  of  "  Mules  " — Starts  as  Employer  of  Labour 
on  his  own  account — Is  appointed  Manager  of  Mr. 
Drinkwater's  Mills— Leaves  Drinkwater  and  enters  New 
Partnership — Visits  Glasgow  on  Business  and  Meets 
Miss  Dale — Buys  New  Lanark  Mills — Marriage — Social 
Life  in  Manchester — Dr.  Percival  and  the  Manchester 
Literary  and  Philosophical  Society — Owen's  Contributions 
to  the  Society — Partnership  with  Robert  Fulton        .         .       42 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    IV 

THE    FACTORY    SYSTEM 

PAGE 

Evils  of  Factory  Employment — Description  by  Dr.  Aikin — 
The  Manchester  Board  of  Health— The  Apprentice 
System  and  Child  Labour — New  Lanark  under  Dale — 
The  Act  of  1802 — The  Committee  of  1816       ...       62 


CHAPTER    V 

NEW   LANARK 

Description  of  New  Lanark — Of  the  Inhabitants — Reforms  In- 
troduced by  Owen — The  Silent  Monitor — Forms  New 
Partnership  in  1809 — Again  Seeks  for  New  Partners  in 
1813 — Letter  to  Mrs.  Owen — The  New  Partners — William 
Allen  and  Jeremy  Bentham — The  Sale  of  the  Business — 
Triumphant  Return  to  New  Lanark  ....       80 

CHAPTER    VI 

A    NEW    VIEW    OF    SOCIETY 

State  of  Education  in  England  in  1S16 — Bell  and  Lancaster — 
Owen's  Speech  in  1812  on  the  Importance  of  Education — 
Genesis  of  his  Ideas — The  Argument  of  the  Essays  on 
t/if  Formation  of  Character 'Suvcixnansi:^^ — Debt  to  (Godwin 
— Francis  Place  — Effect  Produced  by  the  Essays      .  .102 


CHAPTER    VII 

THE    NEW    LANARK    SCHOOLS 

Visits  Oberlin,  l-'ellenberg  and  Pestalozzi — 'I'he  Institution  for 
the  Formation  of  Character— The  Infant  School — The 
Subjects  Taught — Moral  Geography  Lessons — Dancing, 
Drilling,  Music — Accounts  from  Visitors — The  Leeds 
Deputation—  Dr.  Macnab — Disputes  with  the  Other 
l^artners — Compromise  Effected — Infant  Schools  in 
London 126 


CONTENTS  xi 

CHAPTER   VIII 

NEW  LANARK  {continued) 

PAGE 

General  Description  of  Mills — Reduction  in  Hours  of  Labour 
and  its  Effect  on  Production — Child  Labour — Wages — 
The  Village  Store — Character  of  the  Population — Visitors 
— The  Grand  Duke  Nicholas — Braxfield  House — Owen's 
Family — No  Praise  or  Blame — Rehgious  Views — His  Son 
Essays  to  Convert  Him i6i 

CHAPTER    IX 

THE    FIRST    FACTORY   ACT 

Owen's  Position  in  the  Cotton  Trade — Agitation  against 
Taxation — Owen's  Proposals — Observations  oji  the  Effect 
of  the  Manufacturing  System — The  Draft  Bill  of  1816  and 
Sir  R.  Peel — Owen  Travels  through  Great  Britain  on  a 
Tour  of  Inspection — The  Committee  of  t8i6  on  Children 
in  Factories — Owen's  Evidence — Attack  on  his  Religious 
Views — Postponement  of  Legislation — The  Arguments 
Against  the  Bill — The  Lords'  Committee  of  1818  and 
18 1 9 — The  Bill  is  passed — Owen's  Share  in  it  .         .         .184 

CHAPTER   X 

FOR   THE   UNEMPLOYED 

Peace  and  the  Fall  of  Wages — National  Distress  and  Popular 
Disturbances — Meeting  for  the  Relief  of  Distress — Owen's 
Report — Argument  of  the  Report — The  Plan — The  Quad- 
rangle— Reception  by  the  Press — Owen's  Visit  to  Newgate 
— Further  Development  of  the  Plan — Genesis  of  Owen's 
Ideas — Parochial  Farms— Thomas  Spence — The  Rappites 
— John  Bellers'  Colledge  of  Industry — Criticism  by  the 
Black  Dwarf  Hone  and  Cobbett    .         .         .         .         .212 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   XI 

1817 — 1 819 

PAGE 

Owen  Denounces  the  Religions  of  the  World— Further  Deve- 
lopments of  his  Plan — Newspaper  Criticism — Tour  on 
the  Continent  in  181 8  — Memorials  to  the  Governments 
of  Europe  and  America,  and  to  the  Allied  I'owers  in 
Congress— Address  to  the  Working  Classes— Corre- 
spondence and  Friendship  with  the  F)uke  of  Kent — Dr. 
Macnab  Visits  New  Lanark — Committee  to  Promote 
Owen's  Plan — Debate  in  the  House  of  Commons  (18 19) 
— Owen  Stands  for  Parliament  .....     242 

CHAPTER   XII 

REPORT    TO    THE    COUNTY    OF    L.VNARK 

Owen  Defines  his  Economic  Position — Spade  Cultivation — 
Falla's  Flxperiment — The  Currency — Proposed  Labour 
Standard — Further  Debate  in  the  House  of  Commons 
(182 1) — The  British  and  Foreign  Philanthropic  Society — 
Visits  Ireland — Expounds  his  Plan  in  a  Series  of  Lectures 
— His  Reception — The  Hibernian  Philanthropic  Society 
— Committee  of  House  of  Commons  on  Poor  in  Ireland 
— Owen's  Evidence 265 

CHAPTER    XIII 

NEW    n.ARMONV 

George  Rapp  and  His  I-ollowers— Owen  i'urchases  the  \illage 
of  Harmony — Visits  America  and  Lectures  at  Washington 
— The  Colonists  at  New  Harmony — The  Preliminary 
Society— Letter  from  \Villiam  Owen— The  Boatload  of 
Knowledge — The  New  Harmony  Community  of  Equality — 
Foundation  of  Macluria  and  Feiba  Peveli— Era  of  Mental 


CONTENTS  xiii 

PAGE 

Independence — The  Grand  Duke  of  Saxe-Weimar- 
Eisenach  Visits  New  Harmony — Dancing  and  Concerts — 
The  Schools — Criticism  of  Paul  Brown — Dissolution 
of  Community — Formation  of  Daughter  Communities 
— Owen's  Farewell  Address 285 


CHAPTER    XIV 

THE    END    OF    NEW    HARMONY 

The  Affairs  of  the  Community  Wound  Up — Owen's  Sons — • 
Other  Communities — Causes  of  the  Failure — Owen  Visits 
Jamaica — His  Account  of  the  Slaves  There — Journey  to 
Mexico — Calls  on  the  President  and  Asks  for  Grant  of 
Territory — Discusses  the  New  System  with  Santa  Anna — 
Debate  at  Cincinnati  with  Rev.  A .  Campbell — Interview 
with  Lord  Aberdeen 325 


ILLUSTRATIONS    VOL.    I 


ROBERT   OWEN,    FROM   AN    EARLY    MEZZOTINT    PORTRAIT   BY   AN 

UNKNOWN  ARTIST  (^Photogravure)      .  .  ^  .  .  Frontispiece 

FACING   PAGE 

NEWTOWN,    MONTGOMERYSHIRE 4 

THE   OLD    HALL,    NEWTOWN,    WHERE    ROBERT   OWEN   WENT   TO    SCHOOL  .  8 

ROBERT   Owen's    birth-   and    DEATH-PLACE,    NEWTOWN,    north    WALES  22 

A   VIEW   OF   NEW    LANARK 48 

ROBERT   OWEN,    FROM    A   DRAWING    BY    MATILDA   HEMING             ...  58 

THE   MILLS   AT   NEW   LANARK 80 

ROBERT  OWEN,    FROM    A   DRAWING    BY    SMART 94 

THE    EFFECT    OF    BAD   AND   GOOD   CIRCUMSTANCES    RESPECTIVELY      .  .112 

M.    FELLENBERG's   CHIEF   SCHOOL   AT    HOFWYL    ......  I26 

INSTITUTION    FOR   THE    FORMATION   OF    CHARACTER,    NEW    LANARK           .  I32 

MR.  Owen's  institution,  new  lanark 144 

BRAXFIELD   HOUSE,    NEW   LANARK 1 76 

ROBERT   OWEN,    FROM    A    SKETCH    BY  J.    COMERFORD  ....  I98 

A    VIEW   OF   ONE   OF    MR.   OWEN'S   VILLAGES   OF    UNION       ....  2l8 

ROBERT   OWEN,    FROM    THE   PORTRAIT    BY    PICKERSGILL      ....  244 

ROBERT   OWEN,    FROM    A   PICTURE    BY   W.    T.   FRY 270 

HARMONY 286 

MODEL   OF    ROBERT   OWEN's   PROPOSED   COMMUNITY 290 

THE  TOWN    HALL,   HARMONY,    INDIANA 3 ID 

THE   GRANARY    FORT   AND   GEORGE    RAPP's    RESIDENCE,    HARMONY    .  .  326 

THE    DEBATE   BETWEEN   OWEN    AND   CAMPBELL 344 

XV 


ROBERT    OWEN 


CHAPTER    I 

BOYHOOD 


OF  Robert  Owen's  early  life  our  only,  but  sufficient, 
record  is  the  autobiography  which  he  published 
in  1857.  Apart  from  the  descriptions  of  what  he  felt 
and  thought  as  a  child — his  speculations  on  the  forma- 
tion of  character,  his  weighing  in  the  balance  the  several 
religions  of  the  world,  in  all  which  we  cannot  but 
suppose  that  the  old  man  of  eighty-seven  read  back  into 
the  primitive,  fluent  consciousness  of  infancy  the  re- 
flections and  judgments  of  maturer  years — there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  the  substantial  accuracy  of  the  narrative, 
and,  in  any  case,  we  have  no  other  or  better  authority. 
I  propose,  therefore,  as  it  would  be  useless  to  refer 
the  reader  to  a  book  which  has  long  been  out  of  print 
and  is  now  difficult  to  obtain,  to  quote  from  the  auto- 
biography, making  only  a  few  transpositions  for  the 
sake  of  clearness,  and  such  omissions  as  are  rendered 
necessary  by  the  limitations  of  space.  In  the  chapter 
which  follows,  therefore,  Robert  Owen  speaks  for  himself. 
For  the  sake  of  convenience  I  will  omit  the  usual  signs 

VOL.     I.  I 


2  ROBERT   OWEN 

of  quotation  and  omission,  and  when  I  find  it  necessary 
to  summarise  or  interpolate  an  editorial  comment,  square 
brackets  [  ]  will  indicate  the  change  of  person. 


As  it  appears  in  the  family  great  Bible,  I  was  born 
in  Newtown,  Montgomeryshire,  North  Wales,  on  the 
14th  of  May,  1 77 1,  and  was  baptized  on  the  12th  of 
June  following. 

My  father  was  Robert  Owen.  He  was  born  in 
Welshpool,  and  was  brought  up  to  be  a  saddler,  and 
probably  an  ironmonger  also,  as  these  two  trades  were 
at  that  period  often  united  in  the  small  towns  on  the 
borders  of  Wales.  He  married  into  the  family  ot 
Williams,  a  numerous  family,  who  were  in  my  childhood 
among  the  most  respectable  farmers  around  Newtown. 

I  think  my  mother  (who  was  deemed  beautiful,  as 
I  was  informed,  when  she  was  married)  was  the  eldest 
sister  of  the  flmiily,  and,  for  her  class,  superior  in  mind 
and   manner. 

I  suppose  that  on  their  marriage  they  settled  in 
Newtown — my  father  taking  up  his  own  calling  as  a 
saddler  and  ironmonger.  He  was  also  postmaster  as 
long  as  he  lived.^  He  had  the  general  management  of 
the  parish  affairs,  being  better  acquainted,  as  it  appears, 
with  its  finances  and  business  than  any  other  party  in 
the  township.  I  never  thought  of  enquiring  of  him 
for    any    particulars    respecting    his    father    or    mother, 

*  Prior  to  1 791,  the  postmaster  of  Newtown  was  a  sub-deputy  to  tlie 
postmaster  of  Bristol.  When,  in  the  latter  year,  the  office  at  Newtown 
was  made  a  head  p(jst  office,  the  salary  of  the  postmaster  was  fixed  at 
£\o  a  year.  It  may  perhaps  be  inferred  that  the  appointment  of  sub- 
deputy-postmaster  conferred  more  prestige  than  profit  on  the  liolder. 


BOYHOOD  3 

both  being  dead  before  I  was  born  ;  and  owing  to 
the  then  very  bad  state  of  the  roads  there  was  com- 
paratively little  communication  for  young  persons  between 
Newtown  and  Welshpool.  Newtown  was  at  this  period 
a  very  small  market  town,  not  containing  more  than 
one  thousand  inhabitants — a  neat,  clean,  beautifully 
situated  country  village,  rather  than  a  town,  with  the 
ordinary  trades,  but  no  manufactures  except  a  very  few 
flannel-looms. 

[Newtown  is  still  a  very  small  market  town,  having 
now  about  six  thousand  inhabitants,  and  its  staple  industry 
is  still  the  manufacture  of  woollen  stufFs.  But  whereas 
in  Owen's  boyhood  spinning  and  weaving  were  ahke 
done  by  hand,  there  are  now  four  or  five  mills  with 
machinery  driven  by  steam,  the  two  largest  having  about 
a  hundred  looms  each.  The  town  is  beautifully  situated 
in  the  upper  valley  of  the  Severn,  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  finely  wooded  hills. 

The  house  in  which  the  elder  Owen  carried  on  his 
trade  as  a  saddler  and  in  which  Robert  Owen  was  born 
stands  in  the  main  street  of  the  town — a  fairly  broad 
street  which  goes  in  a  straight  line  over  a  stone  bridge 
(built  since  Owen's  time)  across  the  Severn,  and  then 
for  some  distance  still  in  a  straight  line  up  the  steep 
side  of  the  opposite  hill.  The  Owens'  house  has  now 
been  thrown  into  the  adjoining  house,  and  a  passage- 
way has  been  cut  through  the  ground-floor  rooms,  but 
the  old  divisions  of  the  walls  are  still  to  be  seen.  The 
house  is  almost  incredibly  small,  the  rooms  low  and 
dark.  All  the  timber — the  staircase,  the  balustrade,  the 
beams  and  floors — is  of  solid  oak  ;  the  flooring  is 
made  up  of  pieces  of  oak — not  planks,  but  odd  pieces 


4  ROBERT    OWEN 

fitted  together  in  a  clumsy  mosaic  ;  the  doors  are  of 
oak  with  deep-cut  panels,  and  still  bear  the  marks  of 
the  broad  chisel  which  was  used,  instead  of  a  plane,  to 
smooth  the  surface. 

Just  to  the  north  of  the  Owens'  house  there  stood 
in  the  middle  of  the  street  the  old  Town  Hall,  a  narrow 
two-storied  building  with  a  high-pitched  roof,  the  ground- 
floor  having  a  kind  of  tunnel  driven  through  it  length- 
ways, for  the  convenience  of  traffic.  The  building  seems 
to  have  occupied  nearly  half  the  width  of  the  street. 
It  was  pulled  down  in  1852  ;  but  Newtown  still  possesses 
several  old  black-timbered  houses,  and  the  general  aspect 
of  the  town  has  probably  altered  less  than  most  English 
towns  in  the  last  hundred  and  thirty  years.] 

I  was  the  youngest  but  one  of  a  family  of  seven, 
two  of  whom  died  young.  The  survivors,  William, 
Anne,  and  John,^  were  older,  and  Richard  was  younger 
than  myself  The  principal  adjacent  estate  was  Newtown 
Hall,  at  the  period  of  my  birth  and  for  a  few  years 
afterwards  the  property  and  residence  of  Sir  John  Powell 
Price,'  Bart.  ;  and  my  first  recollection  is  of  Sir  John 
opening  a  glass  door  which  divided  my  father's  shop 
from  the  dwelling  part  of  the  house,  and  setting  a  bird 
flying  towards  us,  saying  there  was  something  for  the 
children's  amusement,   and    they   must   take   care   of  it. 

This  must  have  been  shortly  before  he  left  his  estate, 
I  suppose  from  being  in  debt,  for  it  soon  passed  into 
other    hands.      My   next   recollection    is    being    in   school 

'  Tliis  brother  John,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Harold  Owen,  a  great- 
great-grandson,  emigrated  as  a  young  man  to  Canada,  and  appears  to 
have  remained  tliere  throughout  his  life.  His  grandson  returned  to  this 
coimtry. 

*  The  name  is  more  correctly  spelt  Pryce. 


BOYHOOD  5 

in  apartments  in  the  mansion  of  his  estate/  and  a  Mr. 
Thickness,  or  some  such  name,  was  the  schoolmaster. 
I  must  have  been  sent  young  to  school — probably  at 
between  four  and  five  years  of  age — for  I  cannot 
remember  first  going  there.  But  I  recollect  being  very 
anxious  to  be  first  in  school  and  first  home,  and  the 
boys  had  always  a  race  from  the  school  to  the  town, 
and,  being  a  fast  runner,  I  was  usually  at  home  the  first, 
and  almost  always  the  first  at  school  in  the  morning. 
On  one  occasion  my  haste  nearly  cost  me  my  life.  I 
used  to  have  for  my  breakfast  a  basin  of  flummery, 
a  food  prepared  in  Wales  from  flour,  and  eaten  with 
milk,  and  which  is  usually  given  to  children  as  the 
Scotch  use  oatmeal  porridge.^  [Hastily  swallowing  his 
flummery  one  morning,  he  found  it  scalding  hot,  and 
the  result  was  a  severe  and  prolonged  fainting  fit.]  In 
that  state  I  remained  so  long,  that  my  parents  thought 
life  was  extinct.  However,  after  a  considerable  period 
I  revived  ;  but  from  that  day  my  stomach  became  in- 
capable of  digesting  food,  except  the  most  simple  and 
in  small  quantity  at  a  time.  This  made  me  attend  to 
the  eff^ects  of  diff'erent  qualities  of  food  on  my  changed 
constitution,  and  gave  me  the  habit  of  close  observation 

^  This  house,  a  low,  rambhng,  unpretentious  building,  is  still  standing. 
It  is  just  on  the  outskirts  of  the  small  town,  barely  three  hundred  yards 
from  the  Owens'  house.  After  serving  as  a  school,  it  was  for  some 
time  used  as  a  woollen  factory.  It  is  now  again  used  as  a  private 
residence. 

2  "Welsh  flummery — Llumruwd  (sour  sediment),  whence  our  Enghsh 
word  '  flummery.'  It  is  formed  of  the  husks  of  the  oatmeal  roughly 
sifted  out,  soaked  in  water  until  it  becomes  sour,  then  strained  and 
boiled,  when  it  forms  a  pale  brown  subgelatinous  mass,  usually  eaten 
with  abundance  of  new  milk."  (^My  Life,  etc.,  by  A.  R.  Wallace,  Vol.  I., 
p.   179.) 


6  ROBERT   OWEN 

and  of  continual  reflection  ;  and  I  have  always  thought 
that  this  accident  had  a  great  influence  in  forming  my 
character. 

Shortly  before  this  event  I  was  doing  something 
with  the  keyhole  of  a  large  door  in  a  passage  between 
my  father's  house  and  that  of  our  next  neighbour,  and 
by  some  means  I  got  one  of  my  fingers  fast  in  the 
keyhole,  and  in  my  attempt  to  get  it  out  it  was  twisted 
so  painfully  that  I  fainted,  and  I  know  not  how  it  came 
loose,  for  I  was  found  in  a  swoon  lying  on  the  ground. 

On  another  occasion  my  life  was  perilled,  and  I  again 
escaped  without  knowing  how.  Newtown  is  situated  on 
the  banks  of  the  river  Severn,  over  which  at  that  time 
there  was  a  bridge  that  had  been  erected  many  years- 
before,  of  wood.^  It  admitted  of  a  wagon-way  with  a 
narrow  footpath  on  each  side.  My  father  had  a  favourite 
cream-coloured  mare,  and  her  pasture-fields  were  on  the 
side  of  this  bridge  opposite  to  where  we  lived.  When 
my  father  required  this  mare,  as  it  was  a  favourite  of 
mine  also,  I  frequently  went  lor  it  to  the  field,  and 
rode  it  home,  although  a  young  horseman,  for  at  this 
period  I  was  only  six  or  seven  years  old.  One  day 
when  returning  from  the  field  mounted  on  this  mare, 
I  was  passing  homeward  over  the  bridge,  but  before  I 
was  half  over,  a  wagon  had  made  some  progress  from 
the  opposite  side.  There  was  not  room  for  me  to  pass 
without  my  legs  coming  in  contact  with  the  wheels  of 
this  wagon  or  with  the  rails  of  the  bridge.  1  had  not 
sense  enough  to  turn  back,  and  endeavoured  to  pass 
the   wagon.      I    soon    found    that    my   leg  was  in    danger 

'  This  wooden  bridge  was  replaced   in    1827    by   the  stone  structure 
already  mentioned. 


BOYHOOD  7 

of  being  grazed  by  the  wheels  and  I  threw  it  over  the 
saddle,  and  in  consequence  I  fell  on  the  opposite  side, 
but  in  falling  I  was  so  alarmed  lest  I  should  drop  into 
the  river  or  should  strike  against  the  bridge,  that  I 
lost  all  recollection.  How  I  escaped  I  know  not,  but 
on  recovering  I  found  myself  on  the  footpath  of  the 
bridge,  the  mare  standing  quietly  near  me,  and  the  wagon 
had  fairly  passed  and  I  was  unhurt.  Since  that  occurrence 
I  have  always  felt  a  more  especial  liking  for  cream-coloured 
horses  than  for  any  others. 

In  schools  in  these  small  towns  it  was  considered  a 
good  education  if  one  could  read  fluently,  write  a  legible 
hand  and  understand  the  first  four  rules  of  arithmetic. 
And  this  I  have  reason  to  believe  was  the  extent  of 
Mr.  Thickness's  qualification  for  a  schoolmaster,  because 
when  I  had  acquired  these  small  rudiments  of  learning 
at  the  age  of  seven,  he  applied  to  my  father  for 
permission  that  I  should  become  his  assistant  and 
"  usher,"  as  from  that  time  I  was  called  while  I  remained 
in  school.  And  thenceforward  my  schooling  was  to  be 
repaid  by  my  ushership.  As  I  remained  at  school  about 
two  years  longer,  those  two  years  were  lost  to  me, 
except  that  I  thus  early  acquired  the  habit  of  teaching 
others   what   I   knew. 

But  at  this  period  I  was  fond  of  and  had  a  strong 
passion  for  reading  everything  which  fell  in  my  way. 
As  I  was  known  to  and  knew  every  family  in  the  town, 
I  had  the  libraries  of  the  clergyman,  physician,  and 
lawyer — the  learned  men  of  the  town — thrown  open  to 
me,  with  permission  to  take  home  any  volume  which  I 
liked,  and  I   made  full  use  of  the  liberty  given  to  me. 

Among    the    books  which  I    selected    at  this  period 


8  ROBERT   OWEN 

were  Robinson  Cmsoe,  Philip  Cltiarle,  Pilgrim's  Progress^ 
Paradise  Lost,  Harvey's  Meditations  Among  the  Tombsy 
Young's  Night  Thoughts,  Richardson's  and  all  other 
standard  novels.  I  believed  every  word  of  them  to  be 
true  and  was  therefore  deeply  interested,  and  I  generally 
finished  a  volume  daily.  Then  I  read  Cook's  and  all 
the  circumnavigators'  voyages,  the  history  of  the  world, 
— Rollin's  Ancient  History — and  all  the  lives  I  could 
meet  with  of  the  philosophers  and  great  men. 

At  this  period,  probably  when  I  was  between  eight 
and  nine  years  of  age,  three  maiden  ladies  became 
intimate  in  our  family,  and  they  were  Methodists.  They 
took  a  great  fancy  to  me,  and  gave  me  many  of  their 
books  to  read.  As  I  was  religiously  inclined,^  they 
were  very  desirous  to  convert  me  to  their  peculiar  faith. 
I  read  and  studied  the  books  they  gave  me  with  great 
attention  ;  but  as  1  read  religious  works  of  all  parties, 
I  became  surprised,  first  at  the  opposition  between  the 
difl^erent  sects  of  Christians  ;  afterwards  at  the  deadly 
hatred  between  the  Jews,  Christians,  Mahomedans, 
Hindoos,  Chinese,  etc.,  etc.,  and  between  these  and  what 
they  called  Pagans  and  Infidels.  The  study  of  these 
contending  faiths,  and  their  deadly  hatred  to  each  other, 
began  to  create  doubts  in  my  mind  respecting  the 
truth    of  any    one    of  these    divisions.      While    studying 

'  We  have  some  independent  testimony  to  Robert  Owen's  religious 
character  in  childhood.  A  nephew — Robert  Owen  Uavies— wrote  to  the 
Sf.  James  s  Chronicle,  December,  1826,  to  vindicate  his  uncle  from  the 
charge  of  Atheism.  "  As  a  boy,"  he  writes,  "  Robert  Owen  slept 
alone,  because  his  elder  brother  was  always  beating  him  for  saying 
his  prayers  upon  his  knees  at  the  bedside:  and  afterwards  when  a 
youth  he  was  ever  remarked  for  his  strict  attention  to  his  religious 
duties."  (Quoted  in  letter  to  Mrs.  Stewart,  May  6,  1S30,  Manchester 
Collection.) 


.\ 


.    >4^ 


V     «     ..  — — "■ 


BOYHOOD  9 

and  thinking  with  great  earnestness  upon  these  subjects, 
I  wrote  three  sermons,  and  I  was  called  the  little  parson. 
These  sermons  I  kept  until  I  met  with  Sterne's  works, 
in  which  I  found  among  his  sermons  three  so  much 
like  them  in  idea  and  turn  of  mind,  that  it  occurred  to 
me  as  I  read  them  that  I  should  be  considered  a  plagiarist, 
and  without  thought,  as  I  could  not  bear  any  such 
suspicion,  I  hastily  threw  them  into  the  fire  ;  which  I 
often  after  regretted,  as  I  should  like  to  know  now  how 
I  then  thought  and  expressed  myself  on  such  subjects. 
But  certain  it  is  that  my  reading  religious  works 
combined  with  my  other  readings,  compelled  me  to 
feel  strongly  at  ten  years  of  age  that  there  must  be 
something  fundamentally  wrong  in  all  religions,  as 
they  had  been  taught  up  to  that  period. 

[As  already  said]  1  could  not  eat  and  drink  as  others 
of  my  age,  and  I  was  thus  compelled  to  live  in  some 
respects  the  life  of  a  hermit  as  regards  temperance.  I 
entered,  however,  into  the  amusements  of  those  of  my 
own  standing,  and  followed  the  games  played  by  boys 
at  that  period  in  that  part  of  the  country — such  as 
marbles,  hand  and  foot  ball,  etc.  I  also  attended  the 
dancing-school  for  some  time,  and  in  all  these  games 
and  exercises  I  excelled,  not  only  those  of  my  own  age, 
but  those  two  or  three  years  older,  and  I  was  so  active 
that  I  was  the  best  runner  and  leaper,  both  as  to  height 
and  distance,  in  the  school.  I  attempted  also  to  learn 
music,  and  to  play  upon  the  clarionet,  and  during  my 
noviciate,  as  my  father's  house  was  in  the  middle  of  the 
principal  street,  I  fear  I  must  have  annoyed  all  the 
neighbourhood,  for  my  "God  save  the  King"  and 
similar  tunes  were  heard  almost  all  over  the  town.     But 


lo  ROBERT   OWEN 

I  do  not  recollect  that  any  formal  complaint  was  ever 
made.  I  was  too  much  of  a  favourite  with  the  whole 
town   for   my   benefit. 

About  this  period,  a  young  gentleman,  a  Mr.  James 
Donne,  who  was  studying  for  the  Church,  either  at 
Oxford  or  at  Cambridge,  came  upon  a  visit  to  Newtown 
during  a  vacation,  and  I  became  his  every-day  com- 
panion. He  was  then  about  nineteen,  and  I  was  between 
eight  and  nine.  The  country  around  Newtown  is,  I 
beHeve,  generally  considered  to  be  interesting  and  beau- 
tiful, and  Mr.  Donne  and  myself,  while  he  remained 
upon  his  visit,  rambled  about  the  woods  and  lanes  and 
higher  grounds  to  examine  the  scenery  in  all  directions. 
These  excursions  with  a  man  of  his  cultivated  taste  and 
superior  conversation  awakened  in  me  a  sense  of  pleasure 
which  I  ever  afterwards  experienced,  in  observing  nature 
in  its  every  variety — a  pleasure  which,  as  I  advanced  in 
years,  continued  and  increased.  The  friendship  thus 
commenced  strengthened  with  our  years  and  continued 
to  the  death  of  Mr.  Donne,  who  became  well  known  and 
highly  respected  as  Mr.  Donne  of  Oswestry.  We  had 
much  correspondence,  and  when  I  had  aroused  the  think- 
ing faculties  of  the  civilised  world  by  the  great  public 
meetino-s  which  I  held  in  the  Citv  of  London  Tavern 
in  I  817,  I  was  surprised  by  receiving  a  letter  from  my 
much  valued  frienJ,  Dr.  Donne,  to  inform  me  that  he 
had  taken  a  pleasant  task  upon  himself,  which  was  to 
trace  my  pedigree,  and  had  discovered  that  I  was  a 
regular  descendant  from  the  Princes  of  North  Wales.^ 

'  Tlif-re  ar(^  several  letters  from  Dr.  Donne  in  the  Manchester 
Collection,  He  acted  as  Owen's  agent  in  forwarding  remittances  to  Owen's 
aister,  Mrs.  Weaver. 


BOYHOOD  II 

[During  the  school  holidays  Robert  Owen  used  to 
visit  his  relations,  farmers  living  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Newtown.  His  most  intimate  friend  appears  to  have 
been  a  cousin,  Richard  Williams,  a  boy  just  a  year 
younger  than  himself.]  One  very  hot  day  in  hay- 
harvest  time  we  felt  ourselves,  being  over-clothed,  quite 
overcome  with  heat  while  we  sauntered  from  the  house 
towards  a  large  field  where  numerous  haymakers  were 
actively  at  work.  They  appeared  to  us,  who  had  been 
doing  nothing  and  yet  were  overcome  with  heat,  to  be 
cool  and  comfortable.  1  said,  "  Richard,  how  is  this  ^ 
These  active  workpeople  are  not  heated,  but  are  pleasantly 
cool,  and  do  not  suffer  as  we  do  from  the  heat.  There 
must  be  some  secret  in  this.  Let  us  try  to  find  it  out. 
Let  us  do  exactly  as  they  do,  and  work  with  them." 
He  willingly  agreed.  I  was,  I  suppose,  between  nine 
and  ten  years  of  age,  and  he  was  between  eight  and 
nine.  We  observed  that  all  the  men  were  without  their 
coats  and  waistcoats,  and  had  their  shirts  open.  We 
adopted  the  same  practice,  procured  the  lightest  rakes 
and  forks,  for  both  were  used  occasionally,  and  Richard 
and  I,  unburthened  of  our  heavy  clothing,  led  the  field 
for  several  hours,  and  were  cooler  and  less  fatigued  than 
when  we  were  idle  and  wasting  our  time.  This  became 
ever  afterwards  a  good  experience  and  lesson  to  both  ; 
for  we  found  ourselves  much  more  comfortable  with 
active  employment  than  when  we  were  idle. 

Our  next  neighbours  were  two  maiden  ladies  of  the 
name  of  Tilsley,  and  they  kept  a  superior  country  shop 
for  the  sale  of  drapery  and  haberdashery  on  one  side, 
and  groceries  on  the  other.  One  of  these  ladies  changed 
her    situation    by   marrying    a    Mr.    Moore,    and    as    he 


12  ROBERT   OWEN 

enlarged  the  business  so  as  to  add  a  wholesale  branch  to 
their  former  retail  trade,  they  required  more  assistance, 
and  as  1  was  active,  it  was  supposed  I  could  be  useful  to 
them,  and  my  services  were  borrowed,  at  first  on  market 
and  fair  days  ;  and  as  I  had  been  then  two  years  in  the 
capacity  of  usher,  learning  nothing  but  how  to  teach, 
Mr.  Moore  requested  my  father  to  permit  me  to  be 
with  them  every  day  in  the  week,  instead  of,  as  hitherto, 
on  their  more  busy  days  only  ;  and  thus  I  was  occupied 
for  one  year,  but  living  in  my  own  family. 

Having  by  this  period  read  much  of  other  countries 
and  other  proceedings,  and,  with  my  habits  of  reflection 
and  extreme  temperance,  not  liking  the  habits  and  man- 
ners of  a  small  country  town,  I  began  to  desire  a  different 
field  of  action,  and  wished  my  parents  to  permit  me  to 
go  to  London.  I  was  at  this  time  about  nine  years  and 
a  half  old  ;  and  at  length,  although  I  was  a  great 
favourite  at  home,  it  was  promised  that  when  I  should 
attain  my  tenth  year  I  should  be  allowed  to  go.  This 
promise  satisfied  me  in  the  meantime,  and  I  continued 
to  gain  knowledge  of  the  business  in  which  I  was 
occupied,  continuing  also  to  read  and  to  take  lessons 
in  dancing. 

It  was  at  those  lessons  that  I  first  became  conscious  of 
the  natural  sympathies  and  dislikes  or  jealousies  of 
children.  I  was  esteemed  the  best  dancer  of  my  class, 
and  at  that  period  I  was  in  the  first  class.  The  contest 
for  partners  among  the  girls  was  often  amusing,  but 
sometimes  really  distressing.  The  feelings  of  some  of 
them,  if  they  could  not  obtain  the  partners  they  liked, 
were  so  overpowering  that  it  was  afflicting  to  see  how 
much  they  suffered.      I  have  long  thought  that  the  minds 


BOYHOOD 


13 


and  feelings  of  young  children  are  seldom  duly  considered 
or  attended  to,  and  that  if  adults  would  patiently  encour- 
age them  to  express  candidly  what  they  thought  and  felt, 
much  suffering  would  be  saved  to  the  children,  and  much 
useful  knowledge  in  human  nature  would  be  gained  by 
the  adults.  I  am  now  conscious  there  was  much  real 
suffering  in  that  dancing-room,  which,  had  there  been 
more  knowledge  of  human  nature  in  the  dancing-master 
and  in  the  parents  of  the  children,  might  have  been 
avoided. 

The  time  had  now  drawn  near  for  my  departure  from 
my  parental  roof,  and  for  me  to  undertake  a  journey 
which  in  the  then  state  of  the  roads  was  thought  formid- 
able for  grown  persons.  From  Shrewsbury  I  was  to 
travel  alone  to  London,  inexperienced  as  I  then  was.  At 
that  time  I  knew  and  was  known  to  every  man,  woman, 
and  child  in  the  town,  and  1  called  upon  and  took  my 
leave  of  every  one  ;  and  I  received  many  a  keepsake,  and, 
from  the  more  wealthy,  presents  of  money.  I  deemed 
myself,  at  ten  years  of  age,  amply  provided  to  seek  my 
fortune  with  forty  shillings — the  expenses  of  my  coach 
hire  being  paid  for  me. 

Before  proceeding  to  narrate  my  journey  I  may  state 
that  I  was  never  but  once  corrected  by  my  parents.  This 
correction  took  place  under  the  following  circumstances, 
and  when  I  was,  I  think,  scarcely  seven  years  old.  I 
was  always  desirous  to  meet  the  wishes  of  both  my 
parents,  and  never  refused  to  do  whatever  they  asked 
me  to  do.  One  day  my  mother  indistinctly  said  some- 
thing to  me  to  which  I  supposed  the  proper  answer  was 
*'  no,"  and  in  my  usual  way  I  said  "  no  " — supposing 
I  was  meeting  her  wishes.     Not  understanding  me,  and 


14  ROBERT   OWEN 

supposing  that  I  refused  her  request,  she  immediately, 
and  to  me  rather  sharply — for  her  custom  was  to  speak 
kindly  to  me — said  '*  What  !  Won't  you  ?  "  Having 
said  "no,"  I  thought  if  1  said  "yes,  I  will"  I  should 
be  contradicting  myself,  and  should  be  expressing  a 
falsehood,  and  I  said  again  "  no,"  but  without  any 
idea  of  disobeying  her.  If  she  had  then  patiently  and 
cahnly  enquired  what  my  thoughts  and  feelings  were, 
a  proper  understanding  would  have  arisen,  and  everything 
would  have  proceeded  as  usual.  But  my  mother,  not 
comprehending  my  thoughts  and  feelings,  spoke  still 
more  sharply  and  angrily — for  I  had  never  previously 
disobeyed  her,  and  she  was  no  doubt  greatly  surprised 
and  annoyed  when  I  repeated  that  I  would  not.  My 
mother  never  chastised  any  of  us — this  was  left  for  my 
father  to  do,  and  my  brothers  and  sisters  occasionally 
felt  a  whip  which  was  kept  to  maintain  order  among 
the  children  ;  but  I  had  never  previously  been  touched 
with  it.  My  father  was  called  in  and  my  refusal  stated. 
I  was  again  asked  if  I  would  do  what  my  mother  re- 
quired, and  I  said  firmly  ^^  no,"  and  I  then  felt  the  whip 
every  time  after  I  refused  w^hen  asked  if  I  would  yield 
and  do  what  was  required.  I  said  "  no "  every  time  I 
was  so  asked,  and  at  length  said  quietly  but  firmly — 
"  You  may  kill  mc,  but  I  will  not  do  it "  ;  and  this 
decided  the  contest.  There  was  no  attempt  ever  after- 
wards to  correct  me.  From  my  own  feelings,  which 
I  well  remember  when  a  child,  1  am  convinced  that  very 
often  punishment  is  not  only  useless,  but  very  pernicious, 
and  injurious  to  the  punisher  and  the  punished. 

Though   alone    in   going    to    London,    I    was    not    to 
be    alone    when    I    arrived    there.       My    eldest    brother, 


BOYHOOD  15 

William,  had  been  brought  up  by  my  father  to  his  own 
business,  and  when  out  of  his  apprenticeship,  and  after 
he  had  subsequently  worked  some  years  with  my  father, 
he  decided  to  go  to  London,  when  he  was  between 
twenty  and  thirty,  and  he  there  obtained  a  situation  with 
a  Mr.  Reynolds,  a  saddler,  who  then  lived  at  No.  84, 
High  Holborn.  To  him  I  was  consigned,  for  by  this 
time  Mr.  Reynolds  had  died,  and  my  brother  had 
taken  the  business  and  had  married  the  widow. 

My  father  took  me  to  Welshpool,  and  thence  I  went 
to  take  coach  for  London  at  Shrewsbury,  which  was 
then  the  nearest  place  to  Newtown  to  which  there  was 
any  public  conveyance  to  go  to  London.  The  coach  left 
Shrewsbury  at  night,  and  an  outside  place  had  been 
taken  for  me,  with  the  expectation  that  I  might  travel 
inside  during  the  night.  The  proprietor,  who  knew  my 
family,  was  going  to  put  me  inside,  when  some  ill- 
tempered  man,  who  had  discovered  that  I  had  paid  only 
for  an  outside  place,  refused  to  allow  me  to  enter.  It 
was  dark  and  I  could  not  see  the  objector,  nor  discover 
how  crowded  the  coach  might  be  ; — for  coaches  then 
carried  six  inside.  I  was  glad  afterwards  that  I  did  not 
know  who  this  man  was. 

My  father  had  written  respecting  me  to  his  friend, 
a  Mr.  Heptinstall,  of  No.  6,  Ludgate  Hill,  who  was 
a  large  dealer  in  lace,  foreign  and  British  ;  and  Mr. 
Moore  had  written  in  my  favour  to  Mr.  Tilsley,  of 
No.  100,  Newgate  Street,  who  then  kept  what  was  deemed 
a  large  draper's  shop.  This  was  in  178 1.  I  think  I 
had  been  on  this  visit  to  my  brother  nearly  six  weeks, 
when  Mr.  Heptinstall  procured  me  a  situation  with  a 
Mr.    James    McGuffog,    of  whom   he    spoke    highly    as 


1 6  ROBERT    OWEN 

carrying  on  a  large  business,  for  a  provincial  town,  in 
Stamford,  Lincolnshire.  The  terms  offered  to  me  were 
for  three  years — the  first  without  pay,  the  second  with 
a  salary  of  eight  pounds,  and  the  third  with  ten  pounds, 
and  with  board,  lodging  and  washing  in  the  house. 
These  terms  I  accepted,  and  being  well  found  with  clothes 
to  serve  me  more  than  a  year,  I  from  that  period,  ten 
years  of  age,  maintained  myself  without  ever  applying 
to    my  parents  for  any  additional  aid. 

I  left  my  brother's  house  in  Eondon,  and  arrived  at 
Stamford,  where  I  found  Mr.  McGufFog's  establishment 
all  that  was  stated,  and  his  house  respectable  and  comfort- 
able. This  was  a  most  fortunate  introduction  for  me 
into  active  life.  Mr.  James  McGufFog  was  a  Scotchman, 
thoroughly  honest,  and  a  good  man  of  business — very 
methodical,  kind,  and  liberal,  and  much  respected  by 
his  neighbours  and  customers,  and  also,  for  his  punctu- 
ality and  good  sense,  by  those  from  whom  he  purchased 
his  goods  for  sale  ;  and  I  was  fortunate  in  obtaining 
such  a  man  for  my  first  master.  He  told  me  that  he 
had  commenced  life  in  Scotland  with  half  a  crown,  laid 
it  out  in  the  purchase  of  some  things  for  sale,  and 
hawked  them  in  a  basket.  That  by  degrees  he  changed 
his  basket  for  a  pack,  with  which  he  travelled  the 
country,  acquiring  knowledge  through  experience,  and 
increasing  his  stock  until  he  got,  first  a  horse,  and 
then  a  horse  and  covered  van.  He  made  his  regular 
rounds  among  customers  of  the  first  respectability  in 
Lincolnshire  and  the  adjoining  counties,  until  he  was 
requested  by  the  nobility  and  principal  families  and 
farmers  around  Stamford  to  open  an  establishment  there 
for    the    sale    of  the    best    and    finest    articles    of  female 


BOYHOOD  17 

wear,  for  which,  for  some  time  in  his  travelling  capacity, 
he  had  become  celebrated.  When  I  came  to  his  house 
he  had  been  some  years  established  in  it,  and  was  beo-in- 
ning  to  be  so  independent  that  he  made  all  his  purchases 
with  ready  money  and  was  becoming  wealthy.  He  had 
married  a  daughter  of  a  well-doing  middle-class  person, 
and  they  appeared  to  live  on  very  good  terms  with 
each  other,  and  both  were  industrious,  always  attending 
to  their  business,  yet  respectable  at  all  times  in  their 
persons,  and  altogether  superior  as  retail  tradespeople, 
being  quite  the  aristocracy  of  that  class,  without  its 
usual  weak  vanities.  They  had  at  this  time  an  assistant 
of  the  name  of  Sloan,  about  thirty-five  years  of  age,  a 
bachelor  ;  and  also  a  youth  about  my  own  age,  nephew 
to  McGuffog. 

Here  I  was  at  once  installed  as  a  member  of  the 
family,  and  during  my  stay  with  them  I  was  treated 
more  like  their  own  child  than  as  a  stranger  come  from 
afar.  I  was  by  Mr.  McGuffog  carefully  initiated  into 
the  routine  of  the  business,  and  instructed  in  its  detail, 
so  as  to  accustom  me  to  great  order  and  accuracy. 
The  business  was  carried  on  under  a  well-considered 
system,  which  in  its  results  was  very  successful.  I  sup- 
pose I  was  considered  industrious  and  attentive  to  my 
instructions,  for  1  was  seldom  found  fault  with  or  un- 
pleasantly spoken  to  by  either  Mr.  or  Mrs.  McGuffog 
— the  latter  often  attending  to  the  business. 

The  articles  dealt  in  were  of  the  best,  finest,  and 
most  choice  qualities  that  could  be  procured  from  all 
the  markets  of  the  world  ;  for  many  of  the  customers 
of  the  establishment  were  amongst  the  highest  nobility 
in    the    kingdom,  and    often  six  or    seven  carriages  be- 

VOL.    I,  2 


1 8  ROBERT   OWEN 

longing  to  them  were  iit  the  same  time  in  attendance 
at  the  premises.  Mr.  McGuffog's  shop  had  become  a 
kind  of  general  rendezvous  of  the  higher-class  nobiHty. 
I  had  thus  an  opportunity  of  noticing  the  manners  of 
these  parties,  and  of  studying  their  characters,  when 
they  were  under  the  least  restraint.  I  thus  also  became 
familiar  with  the  finest  fabrics  of  a  great  variety  of 
manufactures,  many  of  which  required  great  dehcacy 
in  handling  and  care  in  keeping  from  being  injured. 
These  circumstances,  trivial  as  they  may  appear,  were 
of  essential  service  to  me  in  after  life,  when  I  became 
a  manufacturer  and  commercial  man  upon  a  large 
scale  ;  for  they  prepared  me  in  some  measure  for  the 
future  intercourse  1  had  with  what  is  called  the  great 
world. 

Mr.  McGuffog  had  a  well-selected  library,  which 
I  freely  used  ;  for  our  chief  business  was  from  ten  in 
the  morning  to  four  in  the  afternoon,  and  while  I 
remained  in  Stamford  1  read  upon  the  average  about 
five  hours  a  day. 

One  of  the  entrances  to  Burleigh  Park  was  near 
the  town  ;  and  in  summer,  and  as  long  as  the  weather 
permitted,  my  chief  pleasure  was  to  go  early  into  the 
park  to  walk,  read,  think,  and  study  in  those  noble 
avenues  which  were  then  numerous  in  it.  Very  often 
in  the  midst  of  summer  1  was  thus  in  the  park  from 
between  three  and  four  in  the  morning  until  eight,  and 
again  in  the  evening  from  six  or  seven  until  nearly 
dark.  I  had  transcribed  many  of  Seneca's  moral  precepts 
into  a  book  which  I  kept  in  my  pocket.  To  ponder 
over  them  in  the  park  was  one  of  my  pleasurable 
occupations  ;  and  in   this  park,  which    I   made  my  study, 


BOYHOOD 


19 


I  read  many  volumes  of  the  most  useful  works  I  could 
obtain. 

Mr.  McGuffog  was  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  Mrs. 
McGuffog  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  they  agreed 
to  go  in  the  morning  to  the  service  of  the  one,  and 
in  the  afternoon  to  that  of  the  other,  and  they  always 
took  me  with  them.  I  listened  to  the  contending 
sermons,  for  they  were  often,  and  indeed  most  generally, 
either  in  reference  to  their  own  sectarian  notions,  or 
in  opposition  to  some  of  the  opposing  sects.  But 
during  the  four  years  I  remained  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  McGuffog,  I  never  knew  a  religious  difference 
between   them. 

I  was  all  this  time  endeavouring  to  find  out  the 
true  religion^  and  was  greatly  puzzled  for  some  time 
by  finding  all  of  every  sect  over  the  world,  of  which 
I  read,  or  of  which  I  heard  from  the  pulpits,  claim  each 
for  themselves  to  be  in  possession  of  the  true  religion. 
1  studied  and  studied,  and  carefully  compared  one  with 
another,  for  I  was  very  religiously  inclined,  and  desired 
most  anxiously  to  be  in  the  right  way.  But  the  more 
I  heard,  read,  and  reflected,  the  more  I  became  dis- 
satisfied with  Christian,  Jew,  Mahomedan,  Hindoo, 
Chinese,  and  Pagan.  I  began  seriously  to  study  the 
foundation  of  all  of  them,  and  to  ascertain  on  what 
principle  they  were  based.  Before  my  investigations 
were  concluded,  I  was  satisfied  that  one  and  all  had 
emanated  from  the  same  source,  and  their  varieties  from 
the  same  false  imaginations  of  our  early  ancestors — 
imaginations  formed  when  men  were  ignorant  of  their 
own  nature,  were  devoid  of  experience,  and  were  governed 
by  their  random  conjectures,  which  were  almost  always, 


20  ROBERT   OWEN 

at  first,  like  their  notions  of  the  fixedness  of  the  earth, 
far  from  the  truth. 

It  was  with  the  greatest  reluctance,  and  after  long 
contests  in  my  mind,  that  I  was  compelled  to  abandon 
my  first  and  deep-rooted  impressions  in  favour  of 
Christianity.  But  being  obliged  to  give  up  my  taith  in 
this  sect,  I  was  at  the  same  time  compelled  to  reject  all 
others,  for  I  had  discovered  that  all  had  been  based  on 
the  same  absurd  imagination,  *'  that  each  one  formed  his 
own  qualities — determined  his  own  thoughts,  will,  and 
action, — and  was  responsible  for  them  to  God  and  to  his 
fellow-men."  My  own  reflections  compelled  mc  to  come 
to  very  different  conclusions.  My  reason  taught  me 
that  I  could  not  have  made  one  of  my  own  qualities — 
that  they  were  forced  upon  me  by  Nature  ;  that  my 
language,  religion,  and  habits  were  forced  upon  me  by 
Society  ;  and  that  I  was  entirely  the  child  of  Nature  and 
Society ;  that  Nature  gave  the  qualities,  and  Society 
directed  them.  Thus  was  I  forced,  through  seeing  the 
error  of  their  foundation,  to  abandon  all  belief  in  every 
religion  which  had  been  taught  to  man.  But  my 
religious  feelings  were  immediately  replaced  by  the  spirit 
of  universal  charity — not  for  a  sect  or  a  party,  or  tor  a 
country  or  a  colour,  but  for  the  human  race,  and  with 
a  real  and  ardent  desire  to  do  them  good. 

Before,  however,  I  had  advanced  so  far  in  know- 
ledge, while  I  was  yet  a  Christian,  and  was  impressed 
with  the  sacredness  of  the  Christian  Sabbath,  it  seemed 
to  me  that  in  Stamford  it  was  much  disregarded,  and  it 
came  into  my  head,  at  the  age  of  twelve  or  thirteen,  to 
write  upon  the  subject  to  Mr.  Pitt,  who  was  then  Prime 
Minister.      In   mv  letter  to   him,   I  stated  the  desecration 


BOYHOOD  21 

which  was  going  forward  in  Stamford,  and  expressed  a 
hope  that  Government  would  adopt  some  measures  to 
enforce  a  better  observance  of  the  Sabbath. 

[To  the  delight  of  the  youthful  Puritan  and  the 
amazement  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McGuffog,  a  Government 
proclamation,  enjoining  a  stricter  observance  of  the 
Sabbath,  was  published  a  few  days  later.  At  the  age  of 
fourteen  or  fifteen  the  boy  returned  to  London,  and 
then  paid  a  brief  visit  to  his  parents  at  Newtown.] 

After  some  time  of  this  relaxation  from  business  it 
was  necessary  for  me  to  seek  for  a  new  situation,  and 
through  Mr.  McGufFog's  recommendation  I  procured 
one  with  Messrs.  Flint  and  Palmer,  an  old-established 
house  on  old  London  Bridge,  Borough  side,  overlooking 
the  Thames.  My  previous  habits  prepared  me  to  take 
an  efficient  part  in  the  retail  division  of  the  business  of 
serving.  I  was  lodged  and  boarded  in  the  house  and 
had  a  salary  of  twenty-five  pounds  a  year,  and  I  thought 
myself  rich  and  independent.  To  the  assistants  in  this 
•  busy  establishment  the  duties  were  very  onerous.  They 
were  up  and  had  breakfasted  and  were  dressed  to  receive 
customers  in  the  shop  at  eight  o'clock — and  dressing 
then  was  no  slight  affair.  Boy  as  I  was  then,  I  had  to 
wait  my  turn  for  the  hairdresser  to  powder  and  pomatum 
and  curl  my  hair,  for  I  had  two  large  curls  on  each  side, 
and  a  stiff  pigtail,  and  until  all  this  was  very  nicely  and 
systematically  done,  no  one  could  think  of  appearing 
before  a  customer.  Between  eight  and  nine  the  shop 
began  to  fill  with  purchasers,  and  their  number  increased 
until  it  was  crowded  to  excess,  although  a  large  apart- 
ment, and  this  continued  until  late  in  the  evening  ; 
usually  until  ten,  or  half-past  ten,  during  all  the  spring 


22  ROBERT    OWEN 

months.  Dinner  and  tea  were  hastily  taken — two  or 
three,  sometimes  only  one,  escaping  at  a  time  to  take 
what  he  or  she  could  the  most  easily  swallow,  and 
returning  to  take  the  places  of  others  who  were  serving. 
The  only  regular  meals  at  this  season  were  our  break- 
fast, except  on  Sundays,  on  which  days  a  good  dinner 
was  always  provided,  and  was  much  enjoyed.  But 
when  the  purchasers  left  at  ten  or  half-past  ten,  before 
the  shop  could  be  quite  clear  a  new  part  of  the  business 
was  to  be  commenced.  The  articles  dealt  in  as  haber- 
dashery were  innumerable,  and  these  when  exposed  to 
the  customers  were  tossed  and  tumbled  and  unfolded  in 
the  utmost  contusion  and  disorder,  and  there  was  no 
time  or  space  to  put  anything  right  and  in  order  during 
the  day.  This  was  a  work  to  be  performed  with  closed 
doors  after  the  customers  had  been  shut  out  at  eleven 
o'clock  ;  and  it  was  often  two  o'clock  in  the  morning 
before  the  goods  in  the  shop  had  been  put  in  order  and 
replaced  to  be  ready  for  the  next  day's  similar  pro- 
ceedings. Frequently  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
after  being  actively  engaged  on  foot  all  day  from  eight 
o'clock  in  the  [previous]  morning,  J  have  scarcely  been 
able  with  the  aid  of  the  banisters  to  go  upstairs  to  bed. 
And  then  I   had  but  about  five  hours  for  sleep. 

This  hurried  work  and  slavery  of  every  day  in  the 
week  appeared  to  me  more  than  my  constitution  could 
support  for  a  continuance,  and  before  the  spring  trade 
had  terminated  I  had  applied  to  my  friend  to  look 
out  for  another  situation  for  me.  'Ihe  spring  trade 
ceased,  and  the  business  gradually  became  less  onerous. 
We  could  take  our  meals  with  some  comfort,  and  retire 
to  rest   between    eleven    and   twelve,   and    by   comparison 


22 

o   o 


I     I 


c  o 


3  S^ 


2   3 

o  - 


BOYHOOD  23 

this  became  an  easy  life.  1  was  kindly  treated.  The 
youngest  Palmer,  a  good  and  fine  youth,  took  a  great 
liking  to  me,  and  we  became  great  friends,  and  spent 
our  Sundays  in  some  excursion  always  together,  and  as 
the  less  busy  season  advanced  we  began  to  enjoy  our 
leisure  hours  in  out-of-door  exercise  or  in  readinor.  His 
habits  were  good  and  his  manners  very  pleasing.  With 
this  change  I  was  becoming  every  day  more  and  more 
reconciled  to  this  new  mode  of  life.  I  was  beginning 
to  enjoy  it,  having  forgotten  that  I  had  requested  my 
friend  to  look  out  for  another  situation,  when,  really 
to  my  regret,  I  learned  from  my  brother  that  my  former 
friend  Mr.  Heptinstall,  of  No.  6,  Ludgate  Hill,  had 
obtained  the  offer  of  a  very  good  situation  for  me, 
from  a  Mr.  Satterfield,  who  carried  on  a  wholesale  and 
retail  establishment  in  Manchester,  that  it  was  a  first- 
rate  house,  and  that  he  offered  me,  besides  board,  lodging 
and  washing,  in  his  house,  forty  pounds  a  year. 

[With  his  removal  to  Manchester,  apparently  in  his 
seventeenth  year,  the  chapter  of  Owen's  boyhood  may 
be  said  to  have  closed.  He  now  began  to  take  up  a 
man's  work,  and  his  later  life  belongs  to  history.] 


CHAPTER    II 

THE    INDUSTRIAL    REVOLUTION 

BEFORE  proceeding  to  trace  Owen's  life  and  work 
in  Manchester,  it  will  be  well  to  take  a  wider 
survey  and  consider  the  conditions  of  the  time  into 
which  he  had  been  born  and  the  manner  of  world  he 
was  now  about  to  enter. 

The  closing  decades  of  the  eighteenth  century 
witnessed  the  final  stages  in  the  supersession  of  the 
mediaeval  system  of  industry,  and  the  establishment  of 
the  present  era.  The  essential  differences  between  the 
two  eras  from  the  economic  standpoint  can  be  summarised 
in  a  few  sentences.  In  mediaeval  England  the  prices 
of  commodities,  the  wages  of  labour,  and  the  rent,  where 
rent  existed,  of  land  were  fixed  by  custom,  and  the 
changes  enforced  from  century  to  century  by  changing 
economic  conditions  were  regulated  and  as  far  as  possible 
retarded  by  legal  enactments,  and  by  the  restrictions 
imposed  by  guilds  and  immemorial  usage.  Profit  was 
not  recognised  as  an  element  in  production,  and  the 
minds  of  devout  Christians  were  still  exercised  as  to 
the  lawfulness  of  exacting  interest.  Agriculture  for  the 
most  part  was  carried  on  under  the  communal  system 
which  prevailed  at  an  early  stage  in  the  history  of  all 
Aryan  peoples,  and  the  several  functions  of  landlord, 
capitalist,     and     labourer    were     still     in     the     main     un- 


THE   INDUSTRIAL   REVOLUTION         25 

differentiated.  The  yeoman  freeholder  tilled  his  own 
land  :  in  the  handicrafts  the  apprentice  and  the  journey- 
man rose  in  the  natural  course  of  events  to  the  position 
of  a  master. 

But  the  revolution,  though  in  its  last  stages  it  pro- 
gressed with  startling  rapidity,  had  been  for  centuries 
in  preparation.  Gradually  Parliament  had  learnt  the 
futility  of  regulating  wages  and  prices  by  statute  :  the 
communal  system  of  land  tenure  had  been  disappearing 
step  by  step  ;  one  industry  after  another  had  developed 
to  a  point  at  which  it  became  possible  for  a  single 
employer  to  organise  and  profit  by  the  labours  of  many 
workmen.  At  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  revolution  began  to  quicken  its  pace.  The  fifty 
years  from  17 10  to  1760  were  years  of  good  harvests,  a 
slowly  increasing  population,  and  unexampled  prosperity. 
The  rapid  growth  of  our  Colonies  created  a  demand 
for  our  manufactures — a  demand  which  our  steadily 
growing  mastery  of  the  sea,  hampered  though  internal 
communication  still  remained  through  bad  roads,  enabled 
us  in  a  large  measure  to  supply.  England  exported 
during  this  period  not  only  manufactured  goods,  but 
a  considerable  quantity  of  corn  ;  and  the  agricultural 
labourer  was  better  off  than  he  had  been  for  nearly  two 
hundred  years.  But  his  status  was  already  changing 
for  the  worse.  At  the  close  of  the  preceding  century 
there  had  been  in  England  some  180,000  yeomen — 
small  freeholders  tilling  their  own  land — a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  land  of  England  was  still  cultivated  by 
villages  on  the  communal  system ;  there  were  millions 
of  acres  of  waste  land,  on  which  the  poor  could  graze 
their  beasts  and  even  build  their  cottages.     But  through- 


26  ROBERT   OWEN 

out  the  eighteenth  century  the  nobility  and  the  country 
squires  betook  themselves  to  enlarging  and  improving 
their  estates,  partly  to  have  and  to  hold  the  political 
power  which  went  with  the  land,  partly  to  maintain 
their  position  in  face  of  the  growing  wealth  of  the 
merchant  princes  of  London  and  the  west  of  England. 
As  a  means  to  this  end  the  small  freeholders  were 
gradually  expropriated,  until  towards  the  close  of  the 
century  the  class  had  become  almost  extinct.  Commons 
and  waste  lands  were  enclosed  under  successive  Acts 
of  Parliament,  and  the  old  three-field  system  of  the 
village  commune — wasteful  and  antiquated  as  it  was — 
yielded  to  improved  methods  of  agriculture,  which  per- 
mitted of  a  better  rotation  of  crops,  scientific  manuring 
of  the  ground,  and  improved  breeds  of  sheep  and 
cattle.  These  various  measures,  whilst  largely  increasing 
the  productiveness  of  the  soil  and  the  general  wealth 
of  the  country,  had  the  effect  of  driving  out  the  small 
freeholder,  and  ultimately  of  making  the  labourer  poorer 
and  much  more  dependent  than  before. 

But  it  was  in  the  handicrafts,  and  especially  in  the 
textile  industries,  that  the  progress  of  the  century  wrought 
most  change.  At  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  staple  industry  of  the  country,  as  it  had  been  for 
some  hundreds  of  years,  was  the  manufacture  of  woollen 
goods.  The  raw  material  was  for  the  most  part  supplied 
from  native  sources.  The  instruments  of  the  manufacture 
were  the  spinning-wheel  and  the  handloom  ;  and  even 
if  this  primitive  machinery  had  admitted  of  consolidation 
in  large  factories,  the  only  available  motive  power  was 
to  be  found  in  the  watcrwheel  and  the  horse-mill.  More- 
over,   in    the   early   years    of    the    century,    "  commercial 


THE   INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION         27 

enterprise  was  exceedingly  limited.  Owing  to  the  bad 
state  of  the  roads,  and  the  entire  absence  of  inland 
navigation,  goods  could  only  be  conveyed  on  pack-horses, 
with  a  gang  of  which  the  Manchester  chapmen  used  oc- 
casionally to  make  circuits  to  the  principal  towns,  and  sell 
their  goods  to  the  shopkeeper — bringing  back  with  them 
sheep's  wool,  which  was  disposed  of  to  the  makers  of 
worsted  yarn  at  Manchester,  or  to  the  clothiers  of  Roch- 
dale, Saddleworth  and  the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire."  ^ 
Baines's  description  applies  chiefly  to  the  north  of 
England,  in  which  the  means  of  internal  communication 
remained  in  a  very  backward  state  until,  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  Brindley  constructed  his 
famous  canals  and  Metcalf  showed  how  roads  could 
be  made.  In  the  south  and  west  no  doubt  foreign  trade 
and  internal  communications  were  much  more  advanced  ; 
and  here  we  find  the  beginnings  of  a  capitalist  industry. 
But  for  the  most  part  the  functions  of  capitalist,  employer, 
and  workmen  were  still  undifferentiated. 

Spinning  and  weaving  were  very  largely  carried  on 
by  the  poor  in  their  own  homes,  and  often  v/ere  an 
adjunct  to  a  small  farm  or  croft.  There  is  a  well-known 
passage  in  Defoe's  Tour  which  describes  this  cottage 
or  yeoman  industry,  as  he  witnessed  it  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Halifax  about  1725. 

Not  only,  he  writes,  were  the  houses  thick  at  the 
bottoms  of  the  valleys,  "  but  the  sides  of  the  hills  were 
spread  with  Houses,  and  that  very  thick  :  for  the  Land 
being  divided  into  small  Enclosures,  that  is  to  say,  from 
two  Acres  to  six  or  seven  Acres  each,  seldom  more  ; 
every  three  or  four  Pieces  of  Land  had  a  House 
*  Baines's  History  of  the  Cotton  Manufacture,  p.  105. 


2  8  ROBERT   OWEN 

belonging  to  it.  .  .  .  Hardly  a  House  standing  out 
of  a  Speaking  distance  from  another.  We  could  see 
that  almost  at  every  house  there  was  a  Tenter,  and  almost 
on  every  Tenter  a  piece  of  cloth  or  Kersie  or  Shalloon, 
for  they  are  the  three  Articles  of  that  country's  Labour. 
At  every  considerable  House  was  a  Manufactury.  As 
every  clothier  must  keep  a  horse,  perhaps  two,  to  fetch 
home  his  Wool  and  his  Provisions  from  the  Market, 
to  carry  his  Yarn  to  the  Spinners,  his  manufacture  to  a 
fulling  Mill,  and  when  finished,  to  the  Market  to  be 
sold,  and  the  like  ;  so  every  Manufacturer  generally, 
keeps  a  cow  or  two  or  more  for  his  Family,  and  this 
employs  the  two,  or  three  or  four  pieces  of  enclosed 
Land  about  his  House,  for  they  scarce  sow  Corn  enough 
for  their  Cocks  and  Hens.     Amonor  the  Manufacturers' 

o 

Houses  are  likewise  scattered  an  infinite  number  of  Cottages 
or  small  Dwellings,  in  which  dwell  the  W^orkmen  which 
are  employed,  the  Women  and  Children  of  whom  are 
always  busy  carding,  Spinning  &c.,  so  that  no  Hands  being 
unemployed,  all  can  gain  their  Bread,  even  from  the 
youngest  to  the  ancient  :  hardly  anything  above  four 
years   old,    but    its   Hands  are   sufficient  to  its  self."  ^ 

•  Defoe's  Zi^wr  (edition  of  1727),  Vol.  iii.,  pp.  97-101.  These  remote 
moorland  districts  round  Halifax  were  behind  many  parts  of  England 
in  their  industrial  development  even  in  the  third  decade  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  they  have  remained  behind  the  world  until  quite  recent 
times.  Mr,  F.  H.  Williamson,  writing  to  me  in  January,  1903.  gives  the 
following  description  of  this  part  of  Yorkshire,  from  his  personal 
knowledge  : — 

"  It  is  only  quite  recently  that  tiie  handloom  has  disappeared  from  parts 
of  the  West  Riding.  I  can  cjuite  well  remember  about  1880-85  seeing 
a  few  old  men  who  still  carried  on  their  weaving  business  in  their  own 
homes  ;  and  the  click  of  the  loom  was  not  infrequently  heard  from  the 
roadside  cottages  out  on  tlie  moors. 

"  I   can  remember  (juite  a  number  of  old  men  who  had  been  handloom 


THE    INDUSTRIAL   REVOLUTION         29 

William  Radcliffe,  the  joint  inventor  of  a  machine  for 
dressing  the  warp,  gives  a  minute  and  highly  inter- 
resting  description  of  rural  life  in  the  more  populous 
parish  of  Mellor,  about  14  miles  from  Manchester,  in 
the  period  just  before  the  introduction  of  the  new 
machinery:  "In  the  year  1770,  the  land  in  our  town- 
ship was  occupied  by  between  fifty  to  sixty  farmers  ; 
rents,  to  the  best  of  my  recollection,  did  not  exceed 
los.  per  statute  acre  ;  and  out  of  these  fifty  or  sixty 
farmers,  there  were  only  six  or  seven  who  raised  their 
rents  directly  from  the  produce  of  their  farms  ;  all  the 
rest  got  their  rent  partly  in  some  branch  of  trade,  such 
as  spinning  and  weaving  woollen,  linen  or  cotton.  The 
cottagers  were  employed  entirely  in  this  manner,  except 
for  a  few  weeks  in  the  harvest.  Being  one  of  those 
cottagers  and  intimately  acquainted  with  all  the  rest, 
as  well  as  every  farmer,  I  am  better  able  to  relate 
particularly  how  the  change  from  the  old  system  of 
hand  labour   to  the   new  one   of  machinery  operated  in 

weavers  when  they  were  younger,  but  had  been  compelled  to  give  it 
up  in  later  life.  These  old  men  were  frequently  both  farmers  and 
weavers;  they  had  a  little  plot  of  freehold  land  where  they  would  keep 
a  cow  or  two  and  perhaps  a  donkey  which  they  used  to  carry  their  cloth 
or  materials — when  they  did  not  carry  them  on  their  backs,  as  they  often 
did — to  market.  The  warp  and  weft  were,  I  believe,  bought  in  the 
neighbouring  towns,  Huddersfield  or  Halifax,  but  all  the  operations  were 
conducted  at  home  ;  the  warp  was  put  on  tiie  loom,  the  weft  was  wound 
on  bobbins  for  the  shuttles  by  tlie  women  (I  think  a  treadle  winding- 
machine,  somewhat  similar  to  the  spinning-wheel,  was  used)  and  woven 
by  the  men.  The  piece  was  "tented"  on  tenting-frames  in  the  fields,  and 
then  taken  off  to  the  towns  to  be  disposed  of. 

"  I  never  saw  a  young  man  at  the  handloom.  The  older  men  who  had 
used  it  were  a  much  finer  race  than  the  present  generation  who  work 
in  large  factories— tall,  hardy,  of  great  physical  strength  and  endurance, 
and  very  long-lived.  Eighty  was  not  at  all  an  uncommon  age ;  and 
whole  families  could  be  found  of  which  all  the  members  attained  that 
age." 


30  ROBERT   OWEN 

raising  the  price  of  land  in  the  subdivision  I  am  speaking 
of.  Cottage  rents  at  that  time,  with  convenient  loom- 
shop,  and  a  small  garden  attached,  were  from  one  and 
a  half  to  two  guineas  per  annum.  The  father  of  a  family 
would  earn  from  eight  shillings  to  half-a-guinea  at  his 
loom  ;  and  his  sons,  if  he  had  one,  two  or  three  along- 
side of  him,  six  or  eight  shillings  each  per  week  ;  but 
the  great  sheet-anchor  of  all  cottages  and  small  farms, 
was  the  labour  attached  to  the  hand-wheel  ;  and  when 
it  is  considered  that  it  required  six  to  eight  hands  to 
prepare  and  spin  yarn,  of  any  of  the  three  materials  I 
have  mentioned,  sufficient  for  the  consumption  of  one 
weaver, — this  shows  clearly  the  inexhaustible  source 
there  was  for  labour  for  every  person  from  the  age 
of  seven  to  eighty  years  (who  retained  their  sight 
and  could  move  their  hands)  to  earn  their  bread,  say 
one  to  three  shillings  per  week,  without  going  to  the 
parish."  ^ 

The  Yorkshire  weavers  no  doubt  used  wool  grown 
in  the  neighbourhood,  and  the  farmers  of  Mellor  were 
largely  dependent  upon  similar  supplies.  But  where 
the  raw  material  was  imported  from  afar,  or  where 
the  proximity  of  a  seaport  or  other  circumstances  offered 
greater  facilities  for  trade,  we  find  that  the  industry 
tended  to  concentrate  itself  in  a  particular  locality, 
and  that  frequently  the  raw  material  would  be  supplied 
and  the  whole  operation  directed  by  capitalist  employers. 
There  were  tailors  in  London  at  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century  who  employed  scores  of  workmen, 
engaging    and    dismissing    them    as    the    work    required, 

•  Origin  of  Power  Loom  Weaving,  by  William  Radcliffc  (1828),   pp. 
59-60. 


THE   INDUSTRIAL   REVOLUTION         31 

much  as  in  recent  times ;  ^  the  capitalist  clothiers  of 
Wiltshire,  Somerset,  Gloucester  and  Devon,  who 
employed  mostly  Spanish  wool  and  exported  largely 
to  foreign  markets,  supplied  the  raw  material  to  the 
spinners  and  weavers,  and  disposed  of  the  manufactured 
product,  earning  large  fortunes  for  themselves  in  the 
process.  Hollinworth  mentions  three  famous  clothiers, 
at  Kendal,  Halifax,  and  Manchester  respectively,  so 
early  as  1520,  each  of  whom  had  in  his  employment 
a  large  number  of  carders,  spinners,  weavers,  and  so 
on.^  In  Arthur  Young's  time  there  was  a  large  silk- 
mill,  worked  by  water  power,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Derwent.^  The  same  writer  found  in  1776  a  linen 
factory  at  Ballymote,  co.  Sligo,  employing  ninety  looms, 
which  had  been  established  by  Lord  Shelburne  some 
twenty  years  previously.  ^ 

Again,  the  manufacture  of  cotton  from  the  very 
beginning  was  concentrated  chiefly  in  Manchester  and 
its  neighbourhood.  Both  the  fibres  of  which  cotton 
cloth  was  at  this  time  composed — for  until  about  1770 
linen  thread  was  always  used  for  the  warp — were  imported, 
the  linen  chiefly  from  Ireland,  the  cotton  from  the  West 
Indies,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  geographical  situation 
of  Manchester  was  mainly  responsible  for  the  concentra- 
tion of  the  industry  in  this  spot.  Further,  it  seems 
certain  that,  as  in  the  west  of  England,  the  industry 
was  at  least  partly  organised  on  a  capitalist  basis.  Thus 
Dr.    Aikin,    in    his    Description  of    Manchester ^^    writes : 

^  Webb's  History  of  Trade  Unionism,  p.  26. 

'  Quoted  by  Baines,  History  of  Cotton  Manufacture,  p.  91. 

^  See  The  Moderfi  Factory  System,  by  W.  Cooke  Taylor,  p.  71. 

*  Tour  i7i  h'cland,  Reprint  of  1892,  Vol.  I.,  p.  223. 

'"  Description  of  the  Country  Roiind  Manchester ^  1795)  P-  15S. 


3^ 


ROBERT   OWEN 


'*  Fustians  were  manufactured  about  Bolton,  Leigh,  and 
the  places  adjacent  :  but  Bolton  was  the  principal  market 
for  them,  where  they  were  bought  in  the  grey  by  the 
Manchester  chapman,  who  finished  and  sold  them  in 
the  country. 

*'  The  Manchester  traders  went  regularly  on  market- 
days  to  buy  pieces  of  fustian  of  the  weaver  ;  each 
weaver  then  procuring  yarn  or  cotton  as  he  could,  which 
subjected  the  trade  to  great  inconvenience.  To  remedy 
this,  some  of  the  chapmen  furnished  warps  and  wool 
to  the  weavers,  and  employed  persons  on  commission 
to  put  out  warps  to  the  weavers.  They  also  encouraged 
weavers  to  fetch  them  from  Manchester,  and,  by 
prompt  payment  and  good  usage,  endeavoured  to  secure 
good  workmanship." 

But  the  factory  system,  as  we  understand  it,  had 
not  yet  begun.  Even  when  the  employer  supplied  the 
raw  material  and  sold  the  finished  cloth,  the  workers 
for  the  most  part  provided  their  own  spinning-wheels 
and  looms  and  worked  in  their  own  homes.  In  the 
earlier  decades  of  the  eighteenth  century  it  was  only  in 
the  manufacture  of  silk  that  the  nature  of  the  machinery 
used  was  such  as  to  admit  of  the  economical  employment 
of  any  power  except  that  of  human  limbs.  For  indeed, 
up  to  the  middle  of  the  century,  the  machinery  employed 
throughout  Europe  in  spinning  and  weaving  had  scarcely 
advanced  since  the  time  of  the  Pharoahs.  The  distaff 
had  yielded  to  the  spinning-wheel  ;  but  the  spinster 
still  laboriously  wrought  a  single  thread,  with  such 
slowness  that  one  loom,  even  a  handloom,  required, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  services  of  six  or  eight  spinning- 
wheels    to   keep    it   constantly    supplied,      llie   handloom 


THE   INDUSTRIAL   REVOLUTION         33 

itself,  an  improvement,  no  doubt,  on  the  rude  frame 
stretched  by  the  Hindoo  betv/een  two  palm-trees,  was 
still  worked  by  the  weaver's  feet  ;  and,  until  the 
invention,  in  1738,  of  the  fly-shuttle,  the  thread  was 
still  passed  through  the  warp  by  the  weaver's  hand. 
Again,  the  manufacturers  of  Manchester  could  not 
compete  in  fineness  with  the  fabrics  of  India,  wrought 
by  still  ruder  machinery,  nor  make  a  thread  of  cotton 
strong  enough  to  be  used  for  the  warp  in  the  process  of 
weaving. 

But  from  1738  onwards  there  came,  in  rapid  succes- 
sion, a  number  of  inventions,  each  aiming  at  substituting 
mechanical  devices  for  the  slow  and  uncertain  operations 
of  human  fingers  in  spinning.  John  Wyatt,  Thomas 
Highs,  James  Hargreaves,  Richard  Arkwright,  and 
Samuel  Crompton  are  the  chief  names  on  this  roll  of 
honour.  Hargreaves  invented  the  spinning-jenny  (the 
name  was  given  out  of  compliment  to  his  wife),  Arkwright 
the  water-frame,  as  it  was  called,  from  the  motive  power 
originally  employed  to  work  it.  Both  inventions  were 
actually  brought  into  use  for  commercial  purposes  between 
1760  and  1770  ;  and  a  few  years  later  Crompton  combined 
the  characteristic  merits  of  the  inventions  of  his  two 
predecessors  in  a  new  machine,  hence  called  the  "  mule." 

The  work  done  by  the  fingers  in  spinning  con- 
sisted in  at  once  stretching  and  twisting  the  fine  fibres 
of  the  cotton.  The  problem  which  the  great  inven- 
tors set  before  them  was  how  to  enable  machinery  to 
do  the  work  hitherto  done  by  human  fingers  ;  to  do  it 
faster  ;  to  stretch  the  fibres  to  a  much  higher  degree  of 
fineness  ;  and  to  twist  the  thread  to  a  much  greater  hard- 
ness.    Robert  Dale  Owen  gives  an  admirable  description 

VOL.    I.  3 


34  ROBERT   OWEN 

of  the  working  of  Arkwright's  machine.  "  In  the  earliest 
days  the  Hindoo,  holding  in  his  left  hand  a  staff  around 
one  end  of  which  was  wrapped  a  portion  of  the  vegetable 
fleece,  drew  out  with  forefinger  and  thumb,  moist  and 
delicate,  and  then  deftly  twisted,  the  thread.  After 
tens  of  centuries  Arkwright  substituted  for  human  fore- 
finger and  thunib  two  sets  of  rollers  revolving  with 
unequal  velocity,  the  lower  roller  of  each  pair  fluted 
longitudinally,  the  upper  covered  with  leather.  This 
gave  them  a  suflicient  hold  of  the  cotton  as  it  passed 
between  them.  The  space  between  the  two  pairs  of 
rollers  was  made  somewhat  greater  than  the  length  of 
the  cotton  fibre.  The  back  pair  which  received  the 
cotton  in  the  form  of  a  band  or  ribbon,  revolved  much 
more  slowly  than  the  front  pair,  which  delivered  it. 
The  effect  was  that,  at  the  moment  when  the  cotton 
ribbon  was  released  from  the  grasp  of  the  back  pair 
of  rollers,  the  front  pair,  because  of  their  greater  velocity, 
exerted   upon   it  a  slight  steady  pull. 

"  The  result  of  this  was  twofold,  first,  to  straighten 
out  the  fibres  left  crooked  or  doubled  in  the  carding  ; 
secondly  to  elongate  the  Ime  of  cotton  presented  to  the 
action  of  these  rollers,  and  thus  diminish  its  calibre.  In 
other  words,  the  front  pair  of  rollers  drew  the  cotton  out, 
as  the  finger  and  thumb  pulling  on  the  contents  of  the 
distaff  had  done,  but  with  far  more  rapidity  and  regularity 
than  human  fingers  ever  attained.  This  process  was 
repeated  through  three  machines,  and  the  cotton  band 
was  thus  reduced  in  thickness  by  successive  attenuations. 
.  .  .  By  the  front  rollers  of  the  last  of  these  machines, 
usually  called  a  throstle  frame ^  the  cotton  cord  was  drawn 
out   to   the  calibre  or  fineness  of   the  thread  to  be  pro- 


THE    INDUSTRIAL   REVOLUTION 


35 


duced  ;  and  underneath  these  rollers  were  stationary 
spindles  (revolving  with  much  greater  velocity  than  the 
spindle  of  the  cottager's  wheel  had  done)  on  which  the 
hard-twisted  thread  was  finally  wound."  ^ 

In  Crompton's  mule  moving,  instead  of  stationary, 
spindles  were  employed,  and  the  final  process  of 
stretching  and  twisting  the  fibres  was  effected  by  the 
spindles  as  they  receded  from  the  rollers.  Yarn  of 
much  finer  quality  was  produced  by  the  mule  than  it 
had  been  found  possible  to  produce  with  Arkwright's 
machine. 

It  was  obvious  that  the  relations  between  spinning 
and  weaving  were  now  in  danger  of  being  reversed. 
The  mule  and  the  water-frame  could  produce  far  more 
cotton  twist  than  the  slow  handloom  could  hope  to 
overtake.  A  Kentish  clergyman  named  Cartwright, 
realising  this  danger,  set  himself  to  work  in  1785  to 
invent  a  loom  which  could  be  worked  by  mechanical 
power.  He  took  out  a  patent  in  the  following  year  ; 
and  between  that  date  and  the  end  of  the  century  suc- 
cessive improvements  were  made  by  various  inventors. 
It  was  not,  however,  until  early  in  the  nineteenth  century 
that  the  power-loom  came  into  general  use. 

Hitherto,  as  already  said,  the  only  motive-powers 
available  for  working  machinery,  whether  for  spinning 
or  for  weaving,  were  the  labour  of  men  or  animals  and 
the  waterwheel.  But  for  the  last  thirty  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century  James  Watt,  protected  by  a  special 
statutory  monopoly,  laboured  incessantly  to  perfect  his 
discovery   of  the  steam-engine  ;   and   in   the   early   years 

^  Threading   my    Way   (An   Autobiography),  by  Robert   Dale   Owen, 
pp.  10-12.     London,  1874. 


36  ROBERT   OWEN 

of  the  nineteenth  century  steam   began   to  displace  water 
as  the   motive-power  in    mills  and   factories. 

At  the  time  when  Robert  Owen  came  to  Manchester, 
howevxT,  the  power-loom  and  the  steam-engine  were 
still  in  their  infancy.  The  spinning  machinery  em- 
ployed in  the  great  mills  which  were  springing  up  on 
every  side  in  Manchester  was  worked  by  water-power. 
Manufacturers  on  a  smaller  scale  drove  the  spinning 
jennies  and  mules  by  hand  or  foot.  Its  nearness  to  a 
great  port  had  originally  made  Lancashire  the  chief  seat 
of  the  cotton  industry  :  the  abundance  of  water-power 
enabled  the  county  still  to  retain  its  pre-eminence  in  this 
manufacture,  to  which  the  mechanical  inventions  described 
now  gave  an  enormous  impetus.  The  following  figures 
will  show  that  Owen  came  upon  the  scene  just  at  the 
time  of  the  most  rapid  increase,  due  mainly  to  the 
annulling  of  Arkwright's  patent  in  1785. 

Cotton  Importkd  into  Great  Brtiain  from  170 1-1800. 

LBS. 

In   1701   the  amount  of  cotton  imported  was    ...     1,985,868 
„    1764  ,.  M  M  ...     3.870.392 

„    1776-80  (yearly  average)  ,,  ...     6,766,613 

U        1790  M  „  „  ...      31,447,605 

n      1800  „  „  „  ...    56,010,732 

British  Cottons  Exported  from   i  701-1800. 
O^iia/   Ja/uf. 

In   1 70 1  the  cottons  exported  were  valued  at    ...        23,253 

..    1764           „                        „                       „  ...      200,354 

..    1780           ,.                        „                       „  ...      355,060 

,.    1790           ..                        ..                       M  ...  1,662.369 

..    1800           ,,                        ,,                       ,,  ...  5,406,501   • 

In  the  space  of  ten    years,  from    1780  to    1790,  the 

'  These  figures  are  quoted  from  Raines's  llisUny  of  the  Cotton 
yfanufacturc,  p.  215,  where  they  are  stated  to  have  been  supplied  by 
the  Custom   House. 


THE    INDUSTRIAL   REVOLUTION         37 

amount  of  raw  cotton  imported,  and  the  value  of  the 
manufactured  cottons  exported  from  this  country  had 
increased  in  about  the  same  proportion,  viz.  nearly- 
fivefold.  At  the  end  of  the  next  decade  the  imports 
had  again  nearly  doubled,  whilst  the  exports  had 
increased  more  than  threefold  in  value.  This  enormous 
increase  in  the  volume  of  the  work  done  was  necessarily 
accompanied  by  a  large,  though  not  of  course  a  pro- 
portionate, increase  in  the  number  of  the  workers. 
There  were  no  census  returns  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  it  is  difficult  to  find  trustworthy  figures  showing 
the  growth  of  population.  But  Dr.  Aikin  in  the 
work  already  quoted  gives,  presumably  from  official 
sources,  tables  of  the  number  of  births  and  deaths  in 
Manchester  at  successive  periods,  which  affiord  some 
measure  of  the  enormous  growth  of  the  population  at 
this  time  : — 

Bills  of  Mortality  for  Manchester. 

YEAR.  BIRTHS.  DEATHS. 


1700 

231 

229 

1760 

793 

818 

1770 

1,050 

988 

1780 

1,566 

993 

1790 

2,756 

1,940 

These  figures,  it  will  be  seen,  tell  the  same  tale 
as  the  statistics  of  imports  and  exports  already  quoted. 
Between  1780  and  1790  the  population  had  probably 
doubled  itself.  ^     The  rush  to  the  great    cotton    centres 

*  Sir  S.  Walpole  in  his  History  of  England  from  1815  (Vol.  I.,  p.  89) 
gives  the  following  figures  of  the  population  of  Manchester  at  different 
periods  : — 

1724     2,400  families ...         =     12,000  persons 

1757     Manchester  and  Salford         20,000       „ 

1774     Manchester  alone        41.032       ,, 

1801  „  „  84,020       „ 


38  ROBERT   OWEN 

must  have  been  like  the  rush  to  a  goldfield  in  more 
recent  times,  hut  on  a  much  more  extended  scale,  for 
all  alike,  the  old,  men  and  women  in  their  prime,  and 
young  children,  could  take  part  in  this  race  for  wealth. 
And,  as  will  presently  be  shown,  the  young  children  bore 
a  disproportionate  part  of  the  burden.  Again,  the  influx 
comprised  all  classes.  Those  who  had  money  and 
organising  capacity  to  invest,  and  those  whose  only 
capital  was  the  ability  of  their  hands,  alike  flocked  into 
Manchester  and  the  surrounding  districts.  The  numbers 
were  recruited  no  doubt  largely  from  the  labourers,  the 
yeomen  and  small  farmers  who  had  been  thrust  off^ 
the  land  as  a  consequence  of  wholesale  enclosures  and 
other  changes  described  in  the  earlier  part  of  this 
chapter. 

William  Radclifl^e,  from  whom  I  have  already  quoted, 
gives  a  vivid  description  of  the  nature  of  the  revolution 
in  the  textile  industry,  in  so  far  as  it  afl^ected  the  domestic 
manufacturers  in  the  closing  decades  of  the  eighteenth 
century:  '*  From  the  year  1770  to  1788,  a  complete 
change  had  gradually  been  efi^ected  in  the  spinning  of 
yarns  ;  that  of  wool  had  disappeared  altogether,  and 
that  ot  linen  w^as  also  nearly  gone  ;  cotton,  cotton, 
cotton  was  become  the  almost  universal  material  for 
employment  ;  the  hand-wheels  were  all  thrown  into 
lumber-rooms  ;  the  yarn  was  all  spun  on  common 
jennies.  ...  In  weaving,  no  great  alteration  had  taken 
place  during  these  eighteen  years,  save  the  introduction 
of  the  fly-shuttle,  a  change  in  the  woollen  looms  to 
fustians  and  calico,  and  the  linen  nearly  gone,  except 
the  few  fabrics  in  which  there  was  a  mixture  of 
cotton.       To     the     best    of    my    recollection,    there    was 


THE    INDUSTRIAL   REVOLUTION         39 

no    increase    of   looms    during  this  period,  but  rather  a 
decrease.   .   .   . 

"The  next  fifteen  years,  viz.  from  1788  to  1803, 
I  will  call  the  golden  age  of  this  great  trade.  .  .  . 
Water  twist  and  common  jenny  yarns  had  been  freely 
used  in  Bolton,  etc.,  for  some  years  prior  to  1788  ; 
but  it  was  the  introduction  of  mule  yarns  about  this  time, 
along  with  the  other  yarns,  all  assimilating  together 
and  producing  every  description  of  clothing,  from  the 
finest  book-muslin,  lace,  stocking,  etc.,  to  the  heaviest 
fustian,  that  gave  such  a  preponderating  wealth  through 
the  loom.  .  .   . 

''  The  families  in  my  own  neighbourhood,  whether 
as  cottagers  or  small  farmers,  had  supported  themselves 
by  the  different  occupations  I  have  mentioned  in  spinning 
and  manufacturing,  as  their  progenitors  from  the  earliest 
institutions  of  society  had  done  before  them.  But  the 
mule  twist  now  coming  into  vogue,  for  the  warp,  as 
well  as  weft,  added  to  the  water  twist  and  common  jenny 
yarns,  with  an  increasing  demand  for  every  fabric  the 
loom  could  produce,  put  all  hands  in  request,  of  every 
age  and  description.  The  fabrics  made  from  wool  and 
linen  vanished,  while  the  old  loom-shops  being  insuffi- 
cient, every  lumber-room,  even  old  barns,  cart-houses, 
and  outbuildings  of  any  description  were  repaired, 
windows  broke  through  the  old  blank  walls,  and  all 
fitted  up  for  loom-shops.  This  source  of  making  room 
being  at  length  exhausted,  new  weavers'  cottages,  with 
loom-shops,  rose  up  in  every  direction  ;  all  immediately 
filled,  and  when  in  full  work,  the  weekly  circulation  of 
money,  as  the  price  of  labour  only,  rose  to  five  times 
the  amount  ever  before  experienced  in  this  sub-division. 


40  ROBERT    OWEN 

every  family  bringing  home  weekly  forty,  sixty,  eighty, 
one  hundred,  or  even  one  hundred  and  twenty  shillings 
per  week."  ^ 

But  the  spinning-jenny,  the  water-frame  and  the 
mule  cost  far  more  to  purchase  than  the  old  cottage 
wheel  which  they  had  displaced,  and  under  the  new 
conditions  the  cotton  industry  depended  wholly  on 
foreign  countries  for  the  supply  of  its  raw  material,  and 
largely  on  foreign  markets  for  the  sale  of  its  finished 
products.  Both  the  cost  of  the  new  machinery  and  the 
conditions  attending  production  for  external  markets 
favoured  the  capitalist  at  the  expense  of  the  individual 
worker.  We  find  Robert  Owen  starting  in  1790  as 
the  owner  of  three  of  the  new  machines  (Crompton's 
mules),  and  the  master  to  that  extent  of  three  pairs  of 
hands  besides  his  own.  And  in  all  directions  it  is  clear 
that  the  new  industry  was  being  organised  on  a  large 
scale.  Already  in  1787,  according  to  the  reckoning  of  a 
contemporary  pamphlet,^  there  were  143  cotton  mills 
in  Great  Britain,  of  which  41  were  in  Lancashire  and 
22  in  Derbyshire  ;  and  we  see  from  Owen's  account  of 
his  life  in  Manchester  that  more  mills  were  springing 
up  yearly  in  the  town  and  its  environs.  Half  a  century 
later,  at  the  time  of  the  publication  of  Baines's  book,  the 
number  of  cotton  mills  in  Lancashire  alone  was  657,  and 
the  number  of  operatives  employed  in  them  was  estimated 
at  more  than  137,000.  By  that  date  the  industrial  revo- 
lution may  be  supposed  to  have  been  complete,  and  the 
cottage  industry  had  practically  ceased  to  exist  except 
in  a  few   moorland   parishes  and  other   remote  corners  of 

'  Radcliffe,  op.  cit.  pp.  63-6. 
'  Quoted  by  Baines,  p.  219. 


THE    INDUSTRIAL   REVOLUTION         41 

England.  But  during  Owen's  sojourn  in  Manchester  from 
1788  to  1800,  the  two  forms  of  production  existed  side  by 
side.  These  twelve  years  represent  the  most  interesting 
part  of  the  transition  period.  It  was  not  until  the  steam- 
engine  and  the  power-loom  had  been  perfected  that 
the  superior  advantages  conferred  by  capital  and 
organising  ability  became  sufficiently  marked  to  drive 
the  cottage  manufacturer  from  the  field. 


CHAPTER    III 
LIFE    IN   MAXCHESTER 

IT  was  in  1787,  apparently,  that  Robert  Owen  entered 
the  shop  of  Mr.  Satterfield,  in  St.  Ann's  Square, 
Manchester.  The  living,  he  tells  us,  was  good,  the 
company  congenial,  and  the  work  not  too  hard  ;  he  was 
well  treated,  and  found  his  income  much  more  than 
sufficient  for  his  moderate  wants.  In  this  situation  he 
remained  for  two  uneventful  years,  leaving  it  when 
eighteen  years  of  age  to  take  a  share  for  himself  in  the 
great  industrial  hurly-burly. 

At  this  time,  1789,  Crompton's  mule,  the  invention 
of  which  had  been  made  public  a  few  years  previously, 
was  rapidly  displacing  the  spinning-jenny  and  the  water- 
frame.  As  Crompton  had  neither  the  means  nor 
apparently  the  desire  to  patent  his  great  invention,  it  was 
open  to  all  the  world  to  make  and  use  the  new  machine. 
A  man  named  Jones,  who  sold  wire  bonnet-frames  to 
Mr.  Satterfield's  establishment,  told  Owen  of  the  new 
invention,  and  suggested  that  it  Owen  could  find  the 
small  capital  required,  they  might  enter  into  partnership 
and  make  mules  for  sale.  Owen  obtained  the  loan  of 
a  hundred  pounds  from  his  brother  William  in  London, 
left  Mr.  Satterfield's  service,  and  set  up  business  with 
Jones.     They  rented  a  large  machine-shop,  obtained  the 

42 


LIFE    IN    MANCHESTER  4j 

necessary  wood,  Iron,  and  brass  on  credit,  and  soon  had 
forty  men  at  work  making  spinning-mules.  But  whilst 
Jones  supplied  the  knowledge  requisite  for  working 
the  machinery,  the  whole  direction  of  the  business  de- 
volved upon  young  Owen.  "  I  had  not  the  slightest 
knowledge  of  this  new  machinery — had  never  seen  it  at 
work.  I  was  totally  ignorant  of  what  was  required  ;  but 
as  there  were  so  many  men  engaged  to  work  for  us, 
I  knew  that  their  wages  must  be  paid,  and  that  if  they 
were  not  well  looked  after,  our  business  must  soon  cease 
and  end  in  our  ruin.  Jones  knew  little  about  book- 
keeping, finance  matters,  or  the  superintendence  of  men. 
I  therefore  undertook  to  keep  the  accounts — pay  and 
receive  all  ;  and  1  was  the  first  and  last  in  the  manu- 
factory. I  looked  very  wisely  at  the  men  in  their 
different  departments,  although  I  really  knew  nothing. 
But  by  intensely  observing  everything,  I  maintained  order 
and  regularity  throughout  the  establishment,  which  pro- 
ceeded under  such  circumstances,  far  better  than  I 
anticipated."  {^Autobiography^  p.  23.) 

In  a  few  months'  time,  however,  Jones  found  another 
partner,  a  man  who  had  a  larger  capital  to  dispose  of,  and 
Owen  was  bought  out,  accepting  for  his  share  of  the 
business  the  promise  of  six  mules,  a  reel,  and  a  making- 
up  machine.  Thus  in  1790,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  Owen 
was  left  to  his  own  resources. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  whilst  still  in  partnership 
with  Jones,  Owen  had  received  an  offer  from  his  first 
master,  McGuffog,  that  he  should  join  him  in  his 
Stamford  shop,  receiving  half  profits  in  the  first 
instance,  and  ultimately  succeeding  to  the  whole 
business.     This  offer,  Owen    writes,  "  I    was  of  course 


44  ROBERT    OWEN 

obliged  to  decline " — conceiving  apparently  that  his 
undertaking  with  Jones  precluded  him  from  dissolving 
the   partnership. 

Owen  now  immediately  hired  a  large  building  "  or 
factory^  as  such  places  were  beginning  to  be  called," 
and  engaged  three  men  to  work  his  three  mules — all  that 
he  ever  received  out  of  the  promised  six — and  thus 
started  life  on  his  own  account  as  an  employer  of  labour 
on  a  small  scale.  The  mules  could  only  undertake  the 
final  process  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton  thread  :  the 
preliminary  stages  of  carding,  drawing,  and  making-up 
the  cotton  into  "  rovings  "  were  performed  on  Arkwright's 
machines.  Owen  purchased  his  "  rovings," — loose  skeins 
of  half-spun  cotton  fibre — from  two  young  Scotchmen, 
McConnell  and  Kennedy,  afterwards  well  known  as 
cotton  lords,  at  twelve  shillings  a  pound,  and  sold  the 
finished  cotton  yarn  at  twenty-two  shillings  a  pound. 
His  profits  in  the  first  year  were  no  less  than  ^^300. 

At  this  time,  as  already  said,  many  wealthy  capitalists 
were  embarking  on  the  business  of  cotton-spinning,  and 
large  factories  were  springing  up  on  every  hand.  One 
Drinkwater,  a  rich  fustian  manufacturer,  was  amongst 
those  who  had  recently  built  and  equipped  with  machinery 
a  large  cotton  mill,  when  his  superintendent,  tempted 
by  a  richer  offer  from  the  outside,  suddenly  left  his 
service,  and  Mr.  Drinkwater,  himself  almost  wholly 
ignorant  of  the  processes  of  cotton  manufacture,  was 
forced  to  advertise  for  a  new  manager :  "  On  the 
Monday  morning  following,"  Owen  writes,  '*  when  I 
entered  the  rooni  where  my  spinning-machines  were, 
one  of  the  spinners  said — *  Mr.  Lee  has  left  Mr.  Drink- 
water, and  he  has  advertised  for  a  manager.'     I  merely 


LIFE   IN    MANCHESTER  45 

said,  '  What  will  he  do  ?  '  and  passed  on  to  my  own 
occupation.  But  (and  how  such  an  idea  could  enter 
my  head,  I  know  not),  without  saying  a  word,  I  put 
on  my  hat  and  proceeded  straight  to  Mr.  Drinkwater's 
counting-house,  and  boy  and  inexperienced  as  I  was, 
I  asked  him  for  the  situation  which  he  had  advertised. 
The  circumstances  which  now  occurred  made  a  lasting 
impression  upon  me,  because  they  led  to  important  future 
consequences.  He  said  immediately — '  You  are  too 
young  ' — and  at  that  time  being  fresh  coloured  I  looked 
younger  than  I  was.  I  said  '  That  was  an  objection  made 
to  me  four  or  five  years  ago,  but  I  did  not  expect  it 
would  be  made  to  me  now.' — *  How  old  are  you  ?  ' 
'  Twenty  in  May  this  year  ' — was  my  reply.  *  How 
often  do  you  get  drunk  in  the  week  ? '  (This  was  a 
common  habit  with  almost  all  persons  in  Manchester 
and  Lancashire  at  that  period).  '  I  was  never,'  I  said, 
'  drunk  in  my  life  ' — blushing  scarlet  at  this  unexpected 
question.  My  answer  and  the  manner  of  it  made,  I 
suppose,  a  favourable  impression  ;  for  the  next  question 
was — *  What  salary  do  you  ask  ?  '  '  Three  hundred 
a  year  ' — was  my  reply.  '  What  ^  '  Mr.  Drinkwater  said, 
with  some  surprise,  repeating  the  words — '  Three  hundred 
a  year  !  I  have  had  this  morning  I  know  not  how  many 
seeking  the  situation,  and  I  do  not  think  that  all  their 
askings  together  would  amount  to  what  you  require.' 
*  I  cannot  be  governed  by  what  others  ask,'  said  I,  *  and 
I  cannot  take  less.  I  am  now  making  that  sum  by  my 
own  business.'  '  Can  you  prove  that  to  me  ? '  '  Yes, 
I  will  show  you  the  business  and  my  books.'  '  Then  I 
will  go  with  you,  and  let  me  see  them,'  said  Mr. 
Drinkwater.     We  went  to  my  factory.     I  explained   the 


46  ROBERT   OWEN 

nature  of  my  business,  opened  the  book,  and  proved 
my   statement   to   his  satisfaction"   (p.   27). 

In  the  sequel  Owen  got  the  appointment  on  his  own 
terms,  and  was  set  straightway  to  superintend  an  establish- 
ment employing  five  hundred  workpeople,  and  fitted  with 
machinery  much  of  which  was  quite  unfamiliar  to  him. 
For  a  time,  he  tells  us,  his  heart  failed  him  at  the  thought 
of  the  task  which  lay  before  him,  and  he  was  stupefied 
at  his  own  presumption.  But  ''  there  I  w^as,  to  under- 
take this  task,  and  no  one  to  give  me  any  assistance. 
I  at  once  determined  to  do  the  best  I  could,  and  began 
to  examine  the  outline  and  detail  of  what  was  in  progress. 
I  looked  grave, — inspected  everything  very  minutely, — 
examined  the  drawings  and  calculations  of  the  machinery, 
as  left  by  Mr.  Lee,  and  these  were  of  great  use  to  me. 
I  was  with  the  first  in  the  morning,  and  I  locked  up 
the  premises  at  night,  taking  the  keys  with  me.  I 
continued  this  silent  inspection  and  superintendence  day 
by  day  for  six  weeks,  saying  merely  yes  or  no  to  the 
questions  of  what  was  to  be  done  or  otherwise,  and 
during  that  period  I  did  not  give  one  direct  order  about 
anything.  But  at  the  end  of  that  time  I  felt  myself  so 
much  master  of  my  position,  as  to  be  ready  to  give 
directions  in   every  department"   (p.    29). 

Owen's  experience  during  the  past  year,  and  the 
training  and  knowledge  of  fine  fabrics  acquired  under 
Mr.  McGuffog,  now  stood  him  in  good  stead.  He 
soon  learnt  to  correct  defects  in  the  machinery  and  to 
improve  the  quality  of  the  yarn.  He  learnt  also  to 
maintain  order  and  discipline  amongst  the  workpeople, 
and  succeeded,  as  he  tells  us,  in  winning  their  goodwill 
and  in   establishing  a  salutary  influence  over  them. 


LIFE   IN    MANCHESTER  47 

Owen's  management  of  the  factory  soon  proved 
remarkably  successful.  Under  the  management  of  his 
predecessor,  Lee,  the  finest  yarn  produced  averaged  only 
one  hundred  and  twenty  hanks  to  the  pound.  Within 
twelve  months  Owen  so  improved  the  process  of  manu- 
facture that  his  yarns  ran  from  two  hundred  and  fifty 
to  three  hundred  hanks  to  the  pound — a  noteworthy 
feat  in  those  early  days — and  were  eagerly  sought  after 
by  the  best  houses  for  weaving  of  mushn  and  other  fine 
fabrics.  His  name  was  printed  on  the  outside  of  every 
bundle,  so  that  he  soon  became  favourably  known  in 
manufacturing  circles.  Mr.  Drinkwater  seems  to  have 
been  fully  alive  to  his  merits,  and  within  a  short  time 
offered  him  a  partnership  in  the  business — an  offer  which 
Owen  gladly  accepted.  Within  a  year  or  two,  however, 
Mr.  Drinkwater  was  led  to  repent  his  precipitancy. 
Mr.  Oldknow,  the  leading  manufacturer  at  that  time  of 
British  muslins — for  the  finest  muslins  still  came  from 
the  East — proposed  for  the  hand  of  Mr.  Drinkwater's 
eldest  daughter,  and  seems  at  the  same  time  to  have 
suggested  a  partnership,  or  at  least  a  joint  interest 
between  them  in  business.  The  deed  of  partnership 
with  young  Owen  stood  in  the  way  of  this  scheme, 
and,  at  Oldknow's  suggestion,  Drinkwater  approached 
Owen  to  ascertain  on  what  terms  he  would  consent  to 
cancel  the  agreement,  offering  him  any  salary  he  might 
choose  to  name  as  the  price  of  his  consent.  The  boy's 
pride  took  fire — he  destroyed  the  deed  on  the  spot,  and 
resigned  at  the  same  time  his  position  as  manager,  con- 
senting, however,  to  remain  until  Mr.  Drinkwater  should 
find  some  one  to  replace  him.  Owen  at  once  received 
more  than  one  offer  of  partnership  from  capitalists  who 


48  ROBERT    OWEN 

were  no  doubt  already  acquainted  with  the  excellence  of 
the  yarn  produced  under  his  superintendence,  and  finally 
entered  into  an  agreement  with  two  well-known  firms, 
Messrs.  Borrodale  and  Atkinson  of  London,  and  Messrs. 
Barton  of  Manchester.  He  joined  himself  with  them 
to  form  a  new  firm  under  the  style  of  the  Chorlton 
Twist   Company,  and  left  Drinkwater's  service  in    1794 

or   1795   ^^  ^-^^^  "P  ^^^  ^"'^^^  duties. 

As  one  of  the  manaG:in2r  directors  of  the  Chorlton 
Twist  Company  he  had  first  to  superintend  the  building 
of  the  new  factory,  and  to  install  the  machinery,  and, 
when  this  work  was  completed,  to  purchase  the  raw 
cotton,  to  supervise  its  manufacture,  and  to  dispose  of 
the  manufactured  product.  In  the  course  of  his  duties 
he  visited  not  only  other  manufacturing  towns  in 
Lancashire,  but  proceeded  as  far  north  as  Glasgow,  where 
his  firm  had  many  customers.  His  journeys  to  Glasgow 
had  important  consequences.  It  so  happened  that  on 
his  first  visit  he  met  in  the  street  a  Miss  Spear,  sister 
of  a  business  acquaintance  in  Manchester.  Miss  Spear 
introduced  him  to  the  friend  with  whom  she  was  staying 
in  Glasgow,  a  young  lady  of  nineteen,  Caroline,  daughter 
of  the  well-known  merchant  and  philanthropist,  David 
Dale.  Miss  Dale  gave  Owen  an  introduction  to  see 
her  father's  cotton  mills  at  New  Lanark  ;  and  on  Owen's 
return  from  their  inspection  he  saw  Miss  Dale  again, 
and  even  accompanied  her  and  her  younger  sisters  in 
their  morning  walk  on  Glasgow  Green.  The  acquaintance 
thus  happily  begun  was  improved  on  Owen's  subsequent 
visits  to  Glasgow,  which  his  partners  decided  should  in 
future  be  made  twice  a  year.  In  those  days  of  dear 
postage    it   was   the    custom   for   every   traveller   to    defy 


■*-3 


FU 


LIFE   IN   MANCHESTER 


49 


the  Postmaster-Generars  monopoly,  and  become  an  un- 
licensed postman  for  the  benefit  of  his  friends.  Owen 
in  this  fashion,  on  his  next  journey  to  the  north,  conveyed 
a  letter  from  Miss  Spear  to  her  friend  Miss  Dale.  He 
was  no  doubt  a  purely  innocent  go-between  ;  but  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  Miss  Spear  was  not  actuated  by 
other  motives  than  the  desire  of  defraudinor  the  revenue. 

o 

She  had,  it  seems,  already  spoken  to  Owen  much,  and 
with  intention,  of  the  excellent  qualities  of  her  friend, 
and  of  the  still  unfettered  state  of  her  affections.  This 
second  visit,  thanks  to  the  timely  introduction  afforded 
by  Miss  Spear's  letter,  led  to  more  walks  on  the  banks 
of  the  Clyde,  and  to  a  further  progress  in  intimacy. 
On  his  return  from  this  second  visit,  Miss  Spear  again 
spoke  much  of  her  friend's  personal  excellence  ;  and, 
finally — for  the  young  Owen,  bold  and  self-reliant  in 
business,  was  sufficiently  diffident  in  social  matters  to 
need  something  stronger  than  a  hint — ventured  to  tell 
him  plainly  that  Miss  Dale  desired  no  other  than  himself 
for  her  future  husband.  Owen  for  his  part  was  more 
than  willing,  though  without  this  open  encouragement 
he  would  scarcely,  he  tells  us,  have  ventured  to  aspire 
so  high.  For  David  Dale  stood  well  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world.  He  was  a  man  of  great  wealth,  the  leading 
merchant,  probably,  at  that  time  in  Glasgow.  He 
owned  several  factories  and  other  business  concerns 
in  various  parts  of  Scotland  ;  his  cotton  mills  at  New 
Lanark,  founded  in  conjunction  with  Arkwright  in  1783, 
were  the  first  mills  of  any  importance  in  Scotland  ;  he 
had  opened  a  branch  of  the  Royal  Bank  in  Glasgow  ; 
had  helped  to  found  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  that 
town  ;  was  a  member  of  the  Town  Council  and  had 
VOL.    I.  4 


50  ROBERT    OWEN 

twice  served  as  magistrate.  As  material  evidence  of  his 
wealth  and  position  he  had  built  for  himself,  some  fifteen 
years  previously,  a  magnificent  house — still  standing — 
in  Charlotte  Street,  of  which  the  brothers  Adam  are 
the  reputed  architects.  Moreover  his  religious  views 
presented,  even  more  than  his  social  importance,  a  serious 
obstacle  to  a  prospective  son-in-law  who  already  suspected, 
if  he  had  not  at  this  time  openly  proclaimed,  that  he  had 
discovered  the  fallacies  of  all  revelation. 

For  David  Dale  was  religious  with  all  the  fervour 
and  narrowness  of  his  country  and  his  generation.  He 
had  in  early  manhood  seceded  from  the  mother  Church 
of  Scotland  and  founded  the  sect  of  the  ''  Old  Scotch 
Independents."  He  travelled  round  the  country  visiting 
and  encouraging  the  various  churches  belonging  to  the 
communion,  and  himself  acted  for  nearly  forty  years 
as  pastor  to  his  own  special  congregation  in  Greyfriars 
Wynd.  To  help  him  in  his  Sunday  sermons  he  had 
taught  him.self  to  read  the  Scriptures  in  Hebrew  and 
Greek.  Such  was  the  man  whose  daughter  Owen,  the 
freethinker,  aspired  to  marry. ^ 

Upon  his  next  visit  to  Scotland,  nevertheless,  Owen 
discovered  his  hopes  to  Miss  Dale,  who  for  her  part 
explained  that  she  could  never  marry  without  her  father's 
consent,  but  added,  *'  If  you  can  find  the  means  to 
overcome  my  father's  objections  it  would  go  tar  to 
remove  any  I  may  now  have  to  the  request  you  have 
made." 

Owen    had   already   learnt    from    Miss   Dale  that  her 

>  I  owe  mirh  of  tlic  iiilormation  about  David  Dale  given  in  the  text 
to  an  essay  l.y  Mr.  W.  G.  i31ack  on  David  Dales  House  in  CharlotU 
Street,  printed  in  the  papers  of  the  Regality  Club,  Vol.  IV'.,  part  ii. 
(Glasgow,  1902). 


LIFE   IN    MANCHESTER  51 

father,  finding  the  management  of  so  many  concerns  too 
heavy    a    burden,  was    anxious   to    dispose   of  the    New 
Lanark  Mills.     This  gave  him  the  pretext  he  required. 
He    called    on    Mr.    Dale    and    proposed    himself    as    a 
purchaser,  explaining  in  reply  to   Mr.  Dale's  expression 
of  astonishment  at  such  an  offer  from  one  so  young — 
Owen  was  then  twenty-eight,  but  looked  much  younger 
than    his    years — that    he    represented    men    older    and 
wealthier    than    himself.      With    Mr.    Dale's    permission 
Owen  proceeded  to  make  a  detailed  survey  of  the  mills, 
and    duly    reported    the    matter    to    his  partners  on    his 
return  to  Manchester.     Two  of  them  at  once  accompanied 
him    back    to    Glasgow,    and    visited    Mr.    Dale.     After 
making    the    necessary    enquiries    as    to     their    financial 
position,  Mr.  Dale  expressed  himself  ready  to  treat  with 
them.      When    asked    his    terms,    Mr.    Dale    professed 
himself  at  a  loss  to  put  a  fair  price  upon  the  concern, 
as  he  was  seldom  there,  and  left  its  management  entirely  to 
his  half-brother,  James  Dale,  and  a  Mr.  Kelley.     "  *  But, 
said  he,  '  Mr.  Owen  knows  better  than  I  do  the  value 
of  such    property  at    this    period,  and    I    wish    that   he 
would  name  what  he  would  consider  a  fair  price  between 
honest   buyers   and  sellers.*     I   was   somewhat  surprised 
and    nonplussed    at    this    reference    to    me,   with    all    its 
responsible  consequences,   taking  into    consideration    the 
position  of  all  parties.      My  estimate  of  the  establishment, 
from  having  taken  only  the  very  general   inspection    of 
it  which  I  had  had  an  opportunity  of  doing,  was  such, 
that  I  said, '  It  appears  to  me,  that  sixty  thousand  pounds, 
payable  at  the  rate  of  three  thousand  a  year  for  twenty 
years,  would  be  an  equitable  price  between  both  parties.' 
Mr.  Dale  had  been  long  known  for  the  honest  simplicity 


52  ROBERT   OWEN 

of  his  character,  and  as  such  was  universally  trusted  and 
respected,  and  as  a  further  proof  of  it,  to  the  surprise 
of  my  London  and  Manchester  commercial  partners,  he 
replied — '  If  you  think  so,  I  will  accept  the  proposal  as 
you  have  stated  it,  if  your  friends  also  approve  of  it.' 
And  equally  to  my  surprise  they  said  they  were  willing 
to  accept  the  terms  ;  and  thus,  in  a  few  words,  passed 
the  cstabHshment  of  New  Lanark  from  Mr.  Dale  into 
the  hands  of  the  '  New  Lanark  Twist  Company  '"  (p.  53). 

This  transaction  took  place  apparently  in  the  early 
summer  of  1799.  ^ 

Owen  proceeded  at  once  to  assume  the  management 
of  the  mills  on  behalf  of  his  partners,  and  took  up  his 
quarters  in  the  Clydesdale  Hotel,  Old  Lanark,  about 
a  mile  distant  from  the  mills.  Miss  Dale  and  her  sisters 
were  at  this  time,  according  to  their  usual  custom, 
spending  the  summer  months  in  a  cottage  on  the  New 
Lanark  estate,  and  they  remained  there  for  some  six 
weeks  after  Owen  took  over  the  management.  In  the 
intervals  of  business  there  were,  we  learn,  more  walks 
and  talks  on  the  banks  of  the  Clyde,  until  Mr.  Dale 
cut  short  his  daughters'  holiday  and  summoned  them 
to  return  to  Glasgow.  Mr.  Dale  had  previously  to  the 
purchase  of  the  mills  been  informed  by  his  daughter 
of  Owen's  aspirations,  and  had  given  her  to  understand 
that  he  was  not  prepared  to  welcome  as  a  son-in-law  a 
*'  land  louper," — a  stranger  of  whom  he  knew  nothing. 
No  doubt  Owen's  views  on  religious  matters  had  a 
share   in   influencinor   his  decision. 

o 
'  "Apparently,"    for   the    dates    given    in    the    early    part    of    Owen's 
Autobiography  arc  confused  and  to  some  extent  contradictory.      I  infer, 
however,  that  the  purchase  of  New  Lanark  took  place  in  the  same  year 
as  Ijj-j  marriage,  and  the  date  of  that  is  fixed  as  September,  1799. 


LIFE   IN   MANCHESTER  s:^ 

Gradually,  however,  his  opposition  weakened,  a  result 
due,  it  may  be  surmised,  not  more  to  the  representations 
of  his  friends  and  the  knowledge  of  his  daughter's  own 
inclinations  in  the*  matter,  than  to  his  increasing  recogni- 
tion of  the  sterling  worth  of  Owen  himself.  In  effect, 
the  marriage  was  ultimately  fixed  for  September  30 
of  this  year,  1799.  The  marriage  took  place,  Scotch 
fashion,  in  Mr.  Dale's  house  in  Charlotte  Street. 

"  When  we  were  all  met  on  the  morning  of  our 
marriage,  waiting  for  the  ceremony  to  commence,  Mr. 
Dale  was  there  to  give  his  daughter  to  me,  and  the 
youngest  sisters  of  Miss  Dale  for  her  bridesmaids.  Mr. 
Balfour  [the  officiating  clergyman]  requested  Miss  Dale 
and  me  to  stand  up,  and  asked  each  of  us  if  we  were 
willing  to  take  the  other  for  husband  or  wife,  and  each 
simply  nodding  assent,  he  said  without  one  word  more — 
'  Then  you  are  married,  and  you  may  sit  down  ' — and 
the  ceremony  was  all  over. 

"  I  observed  to  Mr.  Balfour,  that  it  was  indeed 
a  short  ceremony.  He  said,  '  It  is  usually  longer.  I 
generally  explain  to  the  young  persons  their  duties  in  the 
marriage  state,  and  often  give  them  a  long  exhortation. 
But  I  could  not  presume  to  do  this  with  Mr.  Dale's 
children  whilst  he  lived  and  was  present'"  (p.   ^^). 

The  brief  ceremony  over,  the  young  couple  straightway 
posted  "  over  very  bad  roads  "  to  Manchester.  Owen  had 
for  some  two  years  before  his  marriage  been  living  in  a 
house  called  "Greenheys."  The  house  had  been  built 
and  sumptuously  fitted  up — the  doors  of  Honduras 
mahogany  imported  for  the  purpose,  and  the  windows 
of  plate  glass — for  a  wealthy  merchant  who  died  before 
he  could  occupy  it.     Owen  and  a  friend  took  the  house, 


54  ROBERT   OWEN 

which  had  large  gardens  and  pleasure-grounds  attached, 
and  divided  it  into  two  separate  dwellings.  Owen's 
bachelor  establishment  consisted  of  an  elderly  couple,  w^ho 
took  care  of  the  house,  the  garden,  and  the  stable.  "  One 
of  my  habits,"  he  writes,  "  at  that  period  was  peculiar. 
The  old  housekeeper  came  always  after  breakfist  to  know 
what  I  would  have  for  dinner.  My  reply  was  '  an  apple 
dumpling  ' — which  she  made  in  great  perfection — '  and 
anything  else  vou  like  '  ;  and  this  practice  was  uniform 
as  long  as  1  remained  unmarried.  My  attention  was 
devoted  to  business  and  study,  and  I  could  not  be 
troubled  to  think  about  the  details  of  eating  and 
drinking." 

To  this  house  Owen  brought  his  bride.  But  on 
the  way  he  essayed  a  small  mystification.  "  We  had 
to  pass  in  sight  of  a  small  low  building  erected  by 
the  well-known  Mr.  Henry  for  the  manufacture  of 
his  concentrated  essence  of  vinegar,  and  I  pointed  it 
out  as  soon  as  in  sight,  there  being  no  other  building 
near,  as  our  future  residence — and  wished  to  know 
from  my  new  wife  what  she  thought  of  it.  She  evidently 
did  not  expect  to  find  that  I  lived  in  a  house  with 
that  common  appearance,  and  she  said  she  thought 
the  house  I  had  described  to  her  was  different.  The 
old  servant  was,  I  perceived,  disappointed  that  her 
young  mistress  was  to  be  no  better  accommodated. 
After  we  had  passed  it  they  perceived  I  had  not  been 
serious  in  describing  my  residence,  and  we  soon  drove 
into  the  grounds  ot  Grcenheys,  and  entering  into  the 
house  through  a  part  well  contrived  and  neatly  arranged 
as  a  greenhouse,  and  the  interior  being  well  constructed, 
furnished,   and   nicely  arranged,    both   my    wife   and   her 


LJFE    IN    MANCHESTER  S5 

servant  were  uncommonly  well  pleased.  And  here 
we  passed  our  honeymoon  "    (p.   56). 

But  their  sojourn  at  Greenheys  was  of  the  briefest. 
It  was  found  that  the  two  managers,  originally  appointed 
by  Mr.  Dale,  who  had  been  left  in  charge  of  the  New 
Lanark  Mills,  were  incapable  of  conducting  the  business 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  new  proprietors,  and  at 
the  request  of  his  partners  Owen  went  with  his  young 
wife  back  to  Scotland,  and  entered  upon  the  govern- 
ment of  New  Lanark,  in  January,  1 800.  With  this 
change  of  scene  a  new  period  of  Owen's  life  opens, 
which  will  form  the  subject  of  a  later  chapter. 

Before  closing  the  account  of  Owen's  life  in 
Manchester,  it  will  be  profitable  to  glance  briefly  at  the 
social  side  of  his  activities.  Of  society  in  the  ordinary 
sense,  indeed,  he  saw  but  little — much  less,  probably,  than 
most  of  his  contemporaries  in  age  and  equals  in  wealth 
and  standing.  He  was,  as  he  tells  us,  much  absorbed 
at  this  period  in  his  business,  and  in  study.  In  later  life 
he  claimed  to  have  read  in  his  youth  and  early  manhood 
at  least  four  hours  a  day  on  an  average  for  twenty 
years. -^  Moreover  he  was  shy,  ignorant  of  the  manners 
and  requirements  of  society,  and  painfully  conscious 
of  his  own  deficiencies  in  these  respects.  But  of  society 
of  another  kind  he  had  no  lack.  There  was  at  this 
time  in  Manchester  a  Unitarian  College,^  under  the 
presidency  of  Dr.  Baines. 

"  At  this  period  John  Dalton,  the  Quaker,  afterwards 
the    celebrated  Dr.  Dalton,    the  philosopher,  and  a  Mr. 

^  First  Discourse  delivered  at  Washington    in    1825  (AVw  Harmony 
Gazette,  Vol.  II.,  p.  225). 

^  The  original  of  Manchester  College,   Oxford. 


56  ROBERT   OWEN 

Winstanlcy,  both  intimate  friends  of  mine,  were  assist- 
ants in  this  college  under  Dr.  Baines  ;  and  in  their 
room  we  often  met  in  the  evenings,  and  had  much 
and  frequent  interesting  discussion  upon  religion,  morals, 
and  other  similar  subjects,  as  well  as  upon  the  late 
discoveries  in  chemistry  and  other  sciences — and  here 
Dalton  first  broached  his  then  undefined  atomic  theory. 
We  began  to  think  ourselves  philosophers.  Occasionally 
we  admitted  a  friend  or  two  to  join  our  circle,  but 
this  was  considered  a  favour.  At  this  period  Coleridge 
was  studying  at  one  of  the  universities,  and  was  then 
considered  a  genius  and  eloquent.  He  solicited  per- 
mission to  join  our  party,  that  he  might  meet  me 
in  discussion,  as  I  was  the  one  who  opposed  the  re- 
ligious prejudices  of  all  sects,  though  always  in  a 
friendly  and  kind  manner,  having  now  imbibed  the 
spirit  of  charity  and  kindness  for  my  opponents,  which 
was  forced  upon  me  by  my  knowledge  of  the  true 
formation  of  character  by  nature  and  society.  .  .  .  These 
friendly  meetings  and  discussions  with  my  friends 
Dalton  and  Winstanley  were  continued  until  they 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  principal,  Dr.  Baines,  who 
became  afraid  that  I  should  convert  his  assistants  from  his 
orthodoxy,  and  our  meetings  were  required  to  be 
less  frequent  in  the  college.  They  were,  however, 
continued  elsewhere,  and  I  acquired  the  name,  from 
some  of  the  parties  who  attended  these  meetings,  of 
'  the  reasoning-machine  ' — because  they  said  I  made  man 
a  mere  reasoning-machine,  made  to  be  so  by  nature 
and  society"   (pp.  35,   36). 

One    of  the    leading   men   in   Manchester  at   the  end 
of   the   eighteenth    century    was    Dr.   Thomas    Percival, 


LIFE   IN    MANCHESTER  57 

a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  a  physician  in  active 
practice,  and  a  man  of  keen  intelligence  and  wide 
sympathies,  profoundly  interested  in  the  various  social 
and  economic  problems  which  were  at  that  time  forcing 
themselves  upon  the  attention  of  thoughtful  men. 
Amongst  his  published  works  are  essays  on  the  principles 
and  limits  of  taxation  ;  on  the  growth  of  the  population 
of  Manchester  ;  on  improved  methods  for  recording  bills 
of  mortality,  etc.  As  will  be  seen  in  the  next  chapter, 
Percival's  sympathies  had  been  specially  directed  to  the 
monstrous  evils  attending  the  aggregation  of  large 
numbers  of  workers,  especially  of  children,  for  long 
hours  in  close,  ill-ventilated  factories;  and  from  1795 
onwards  he  took  a  prominent  part  in  calling  public 
attention  to  the  matter,  and  in  insisting  upon  the  need 
for  interference  by  the  State  to  secure  the  regulation 
of  the  hours  of  factory  labour  and  the  enforcement  of 
proper  sanitary  conditions.  In  1781  Percival,  with  one 
or  two  others,  had  founded  the  Manchester  Literary 
and  Philosophical  Society.  The  aim  of  the  Society, 
which  had  grown  out  of  a  series  of  informal  meetings 
of  a  few  friends,  was  the  reading  and  discussion  of 
papers  on  various  subjects.  The  range  of  its  discussions 
was  extremely  wide,  and  embraced  practically  the  whole 
field  of  knowledge.  But  at  this  period  its  interest  lay 
mainly  in  the  direction  of  physics,  chemistry,  geology, 
and  the  natural  sciences  generally.  Percival  was  its 
president.  Amongst  its  honorary  members  were  numbered 
Sir  Joseph  Banks,  Alexander  Volta,  Erasmus  Darwin, 
Joseph  Priestley,  Arthur  Young,  and  several  bishops. 
The  most  prominent  contributors,  judging  from  the  five 
volumes  of  selected  papers  published   between   1785  and 


58  ROBERT    OWEN 

1802,  were  Perclval  himself,  Dr.  Ferriar,  author  of  An 
Essay  towards  a  Theory  of  Apparitions^  John  Dalton/ 
Beddoes,   Priestley,  and  one  or  two  others. 

Into  this  Societv,  which  included,  it  will  be  seen, 
many  men  of  the  highest  distinction  in  science  and 
philosophy,  young  Owen  was  elected  on  November  i, 
1793,  when  he  was  only  in  his  twenty-third  year  ;  his 
last  recorded  attendance  was  on  December  21,  1798. 
During  the  period  of  his  membership  he  read  four  papers 
at  the  Society's  meetings,  viz.  on  November  29,  1793, 
Remarks  on  the  Improvement  of  the  Cotton  Trade  ;  on 
December  27,  1793,  An  Essay  on  the  Utility  of  Learning  ; 
on  March  13,  1795,  'thoughts  on  the  Connection  between 
Universal  Happiness  and  Practical  Mechanics  :  and  on 
January  13,  1797,  0//  the  Origin  of  Opinions  with  a  Piew 
to  the  Improvement  of  the  Social  Virtues? 

None  of  Owen's  papers  were  included  amongst  the 
essays  selected  for  publication  in  the  volumes  already 
referred  to  ;  nor  indeed  is  it  at  all  probable  that  they 
possessed  anything  of  permanent  value  either  in  form  or 
matter.  He  thus  describes  the  origin  of  the  first  paper  : 
"  Upon  one  occasion,  at  the  sitting  of  the  Society,  the 
subject  of  cotton  was  introduced,  on  one  of  the  nights 
when    the    President    was    in    the    chair.''      I    had    never 

*  Owen's  name  appears  as  one  of  the  proposers  of  Dalton  in  April,  1 794. 

'  I  owe  these  details  to  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Charles  Leigh,  sometime 
Secretary  of  the  Manchester  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society,  which 
is  still  in  existence. 

'  The  date  was  apparently  the  4th  October,  1793.  when  a  paper  is 
recorded  to  have  been  read  by  Dr.  Matthew  Guthrie.  On  the  .\aturc 
and  Culti7<ation  of  Persian  Cotton.  The  minutes  show  tl^at  Owen  was 
present  as  a  visitor  on  this  occasion,  and  was  proposed  for  membership  by 
Dr.  Percival,  Dr.  Bardslcy,  Mr.  Henry,  and  Mr.  Harvey.  Owen's  own 
paper  on  cotton  followed  not,  as  stated  by  him,  at  the  next  meeting,  but 
some  seven  weeks  later. 


From  an  eiigrtun'iii;  after  a  drawing  by  Matilda  HcMiing,  published  Dec    i,  1823. 
ROBERT   OWEN. 


LIFE   IN   MANCHESTER  59 

spoken  in  the  Society,  nor  ever  heard  my  own  voice 
in  public,  nor  had  I  the  slightest  desire  ever  to  hear  it. 
I  was  too  diffident  and  sensitive  to  feel  any  such  inclina- 
tion ;  but  upon  this  occasion,  to  my  surprise  and  great 
confusion,  Dr.  Percival  said, '  I  see  a  young  friend  present 
who  I  am  sure  can,  if  he  will,  give  us  some  valuable 
information  upon  the  subject.  I  mean  Mr.  Owen,  so 
well  known  for  his  knowledge  in  fine-cotton  spinning.' 
I  blushed,  and  stammered  out  some  few  incoherent 
sentences,  and  felt  quite  annoyed  at  my  ignorance  and 
awkwardness  being  thus  exposed.  Had  it  not  been  for 
this  incident,  it  is  probable  I  should  never  have  attempted 
to  speak  in  public.  I  was  conscious  I  knew  more  of 
the  kinds,  qualities,  and  history  of  this  material  than 
any  of  those  who  spoke  this  evening  on  the  subject. 
This  impression  induced  me  to  attempt  to  write  a 
paper  for  the  Society  upon  this  subject,  and  it  was 
read  and  discussed  at  the  following  meeting  of  the 
Society." 

The  second  paper,  if  we  may  judge  from  its  title,  was 
a  mere  schoolboy's  essay.  In  the  titles  of  the  two  later 
papers,  however,  we  see  indications  that  Owen's  thoughts 
were  already  beginning  to  work  on  the  lines  which  in 
his  maturer  life  developed  into  his  characteristic  system 
of  philosophy.  But  however  crude  his  own  performances 
may  have  been,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  ex- 
perience gained  in  the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society 
was  of  much  value  to  Owen  in  later  life.  It  was  his 
first  introduction  to  educated  society  ;  and  apart  from 
the  general  intellectual  stimulus  supplied  by  familiar 
intercourse  with  men  of  learning  and  distinction,  his 
association  with  Dr.  Percival,  who  was  occupied  at  this 


6o  ROBERT   OWEN 

very  time  with  his  investigations  into  the  condition  of  the 
factories  and  the  wrongs  of  those  who  worked  in  them, 
can  hardly  have  failed  to  influence  the  young  Owen,  and 
may  even  have  determined  the  bent  of  his  whole  future 
life  and  work.^ 

One  other  episode  of  Owen's  life  in  Manchester  must 
be  chronicled.  For  some  months  in  1794  he  was  a 
lodger  at  8,  Brazen  Nose  Street,  in  the  same  house  with 
Robert  Fulton,  the  celebrated  engineer.  Fulton  had  been 
for  some  years  studying  painting  under  West  in  London, 
but  at  this  time  had  forsaken  pictorial  art  for  engineering, 
and  had  just  patented  a  device,  a  double  inclined  plane, 
which  was  intended  to  supersede  the  use  of  locks  on 
canals.  He  was  also  engaged  in  perfecting  the  invention 
of  a  dredging-machine,  or  mechanical  "  navvy,"  for 
which  also  he  intended  to  take  out  Letters  Patent.  But 
the  perfecting  and  patenting  of  his  inventions  required 
more  money  than  he  possessed,  and  Owen  some  time 
in  1794  found  it  necessary  to  assist  him  with  a  loan. 
Later  in  the  same  year  more  money,  it  would  seem,  was 
required,  and  in  December,  1794,  a  formal  deed  of  agree- 
ment was  drawn  up,  under  which,  in  consideration  of  an 
immediate  advance  of  ^65,  and  further  loans  amounting 
ultimately  to  a  maximum  of  ;^400,  Owen  was  to  be  ad- 
mitted into  partnership  with  Fulton,  and  to  share  in  the 
profits  from  his  inventions.  In  the  following  March, 
however,  the  partnership  was  dissolved  by  mutual  consent  ; 

*  In  1796  tliere  was  founded  in  Manchester,  mainly  through  the  efforts 
of  Dr.  Percival,  the  Manchester  Board  of  Health,  the  main  object  of  which 
was  to  devise  remedies  for  the  evils  incident  to  factory  employment.  On 
the  Committee,  besides  jjhysicians  and  magistrates,  appeared  the  names  of 
several  well-known  cotton-spinners,  including  Robert  Owen  himself  and 
two  of  his  first  partners,  John  Atkinson  and  John  Barton. 


LIFE    IN   MANCHESTER  6i 

but  Owen  advanced  some  more  money,  making  the  actual 
loan  about  £i^o. 

The  next  two  or  three  years  Fulton  seems  to  have 
spent  chiefly  in  London  or  Paris,  writing  at  intervals  to 
Owen.  Some  time  in  1797  he  repaid  a  first  instalment — 
^60 — of  the  loan  ;  but  Owen  never  heard  from  him 
again.  The  relations  between  them  seem  to  have  been 
marked  throughout  by  the  greatest  cordiality,  and  Owen 
in  his  old  age  refers  to  the  episode  with  pleasure  and 
with  some  pride  in  having  been  able  to  help  one  who 
had  done  so  much  for  the  advancement  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE    FACTORY   SYSTEM 

THE  industrial  revolution  described  in  a  preceding 
chapter  brought  an  enormous  increase  of  wealth 
and  prosperity  to  the  country.  And  though  its  benefits 
tended  at  first  to  accumulate  in  the  hands  of  a  few, 
yet  in  the  process  of  two  or  three  generations  they  have 
become  diffused  through  the  whole  nation,  and  have 
helped  materially  to  raise  the  standard  of  living  even 
for  the  poorest.  In  no  point  is  this  higher  standard 
of  life  more  conspicuous  than  in  the  matter  of  clothing. 
For  centuries  the  poorer  classes  in  these  islands  were 
clothed  mainly  in  woollen,  linen  and  silk  being  luxuries 
reserved  for  the  well-to-do,  and  cotton,  at  any  rate  in  large 
quantities,  being  of  comparatively  recent  introduction. 
Now  woollen  fabrics  are  costly,  and,  as  every  housewife 
knows,  they  tend  rapidly  to  deteriorate  with  washing. 
One  practical  result  must  have  been  that  the  poorer 
classes  in  this  country  could  rarely  afford  the  luxury 
of  clean  clothes.  With  the  rapid  multiplication  of  cheap 
cotton  fabrics  towards  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
all  this  was  chan^red.  The  new  stuffs  were  within  the 
reach  of  the  poorest  ;  the  wives  and  children  of  the 
labourer  and  the  factory  operative  could  have  two  or 
three  dresses  where  they  had  but  one  before,  and  could 
afford  to  wash   them  again  and  again  without  detriment 

6a 


THE   FACTORY    SYSTEM  63 

to  their  usefulness.  Few  inventions,  it  is  probable,  have 
done  more  to  increase  the  comfort  and  the  health  of 
the  poor. 

But  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  change  these  benefits 
were  purchased  at  a  heavy  price.  As  already  shown, 
between  1780  and  1790  the  population  of  Manchester, 
swollen  by  recruits  drawn  in  from  the  surrounding 
country  to  work  in  the  new  cotton-mills,  had  almost 
doubled  itself  Year  after  year  new  mills  sprang  up, 
to  be  filled,  as  soon  as  they  were  built,  by  ever  new 
recruits.  The  results  of  this  process  are  well  described 
by  Dr.  Aikin. 

''  The  invention  and  improvement  of  machines  to 
shorten  labour  has  had  a  surprising  influence  to  extend 
our  trade,  and  also  to  call  in  hands  from  all  parts, 
especially  children  for  the  Cotton  Mills.  It  is  the  wise 
plan  of  Providence  that  in  this  life  there  shall  be  no 
good  without  its  attendant  inconvenience.  There  are 
many  which  are  too  obvious  in  these  Cotton  Mills,  and 
similar  factories,  which  counteract  that  increase  of  popula- 
tion usually  consequent  on  the  improved  facihties  of 
labour.  In  these  children  of  very  tender  age  are  employed, 
many  collected  from  the  Workhouses  of  London  and 
Westminster,  and  transported  in  crowds,  as  apprentices 
to  masters  resident  many  hundred  miles  distant,  where 
they  serve  unknown,  unprotected  and  forgotten  by  those 
to  whose  care  nature  or  the  laws  had  consigned  them. 
These  children  are  usually  too  long  confined  to  work 
in  close  rooms,  often  during  the  whole  night :  the  air 
they  breathe  from  the  oil,  &c.,  employed  in  the  machinery 
and  other  circumstances  is  injurious  :  little  regard  is 
paid    to    their    cleanliness,    and    frequent    changes    from 


64  ROBERT   OWEN 

a  warm  and  dense  to  a  cold  and  thin  atmosphere  arc  pre- 
disposing causes  to  sickness  and  disabiHty,  and  particularly 
to  the  epidemic  fever  which  so  generally  is  to  be  met 
with  in  these  factories.  It  is  also  much  to  be  questioned 
if  Society  docs  not  receive  detriment  from  the  manner 
in  which  children  are  thus  employed  during  their  early 
years.  They  are  not  generally  strong  to  labour,  or 
capable  of  pursuing  any  other  branch  of  business,  when 
the  term  of  their  apprenticeship  expires.  The  females 
are  wholly  uninstructcd  in  sew^ing,  knitting,  and  other 
domestic  affairs  requisite  to  make  them  notable  and  frugal 
wives  and  mothers.  This  is  a  very  great  misfortune  to 
them  and  the  public,  as  is  sadly  proved  by  a  comparison 
of  the  families  of  labourers  in  husbandry,  and  of  manu- 
facturers^ in  general.  In  the  former  we  meet  with 
neatness,  cleanliness  and  comfort  :  in  the  latter  with  filth, 
rags  and  poverty,  although  their  wages  may  be  nearly 
double  those  of  the  husbandman.  It  must  be  added, 
that  the  want  of  early  religious  instruction  and  example, 
and  the  numerous  and  indiscriminate  associations  in  these 
buildings,  are  very  unfavourable  to  their  future  conduct 
in  life.  To  mention  these  grievances  is  to  point  out 
their  remedies  :  and  in  many  factories  they  have  been 
adopted  with  true  benevolence  and  much  success.  But 
in  all  cases  the  Public  have  a  right  to  see  that  its 
members  are  not  wantonly  injured,  or  carelessly  lost."  ' 

The  above  passage  contains  an  admirable  summary  of 
the  chief  evils  wrought  upon  the  poor,  and  upon  the 
community  at  large,  by  the  early  cotton  lords  in  their 
race  for  wealth.      It   was  the  malignant  fever  which  was 

"  i.e.  factory  operatives,  ns  \vp  should  say  lunv. 

'  Description  of  tlu  Country  Round  Manchester  (pp.  219,  220). 


THE   FACTORY   SYSTEM  6s 

very  prevalent   in   the  mills   during  the   closing  decades 
of  the  eighteenth  century  which   first  drew  attention  to 
the  subject.     The  early  factories  were  badly  constructed  ; 
often  they  were  mere  make-shift  buildings — two  or  three 
cottages   knocked   together,  or    something   of  the   kind. 
Little  attention  was  paid  to  ventilation  or  sanitary  require- 
ments ;  moreover  the  machinery  often  ran  night  and  day, 
and   the  importance   of  cleanliness,   for   the  sake  of  the 
machinery  and  the  fabric,  if  not  for  that  of  the  workers, 
was  at  the  outset  very  imperfectly  realised.     It  is  little 
wonder  that  in  these  close,  hot  rooms,  crowded  throughout 
the  twenty-four  hours  with  human   beings,  infectious  dis- 
eases found  occasion  to  spread.     So  early  as  1784,  on  the 
occasion  of  an  outburst  of  fever  in  the  Radcliife  cotton 
factories,   the    Manchester    magistrates    had   requested    a 
committee    of   medical    men    to    investigate    the    matter. 
Amongst    these    medical    men    were    Drs.    Percival    and 
Ferriar,  of  whose  doings  we  have  learnt  something  in  the 
preceding    chapter.     Later,  in    1796,  a   permanent    com- 
mittee,  of  which   these    gentlemen    were    members,   was 
formed  in  Manchester  under  the  style  of  the  Board  of 
Health,   and    a    series    of  resolutions   was   drawn  up   by 
Dr.   Percival,   which   were    quoted   at   length   by    Sir   R. 
Peel  in  his  evidence  before  the  Select  Committee  of  1816. 
Premising   that  the  object  of  the  Board  was   to  prevent 
the    generation    and    spread    of    infectious    diseases,    the 
resolutions  proceeded  to  draw  attention  to  the  unhealthy 
conditions  in  which  the  operatives,  and  especially  children, 
were    forced    to    labour    in    cotton-factories — the    con- 
finement ;    the  hot  and  impure    air  ;    the  long  hours  of 
labour  both  by  night  and  day  ;  and  the  want  of  proper 
education  and   religious   instruction.     In   conclusion    the 
VOL.    I.  s 


ee  ROBERT   OWEN 

resolutions  invoked  the  aid  of  Parliament  to  establish 
laws  *'  for  the  wise,  humane,  and  equal  government  of 
all   such   works."  ^ 

These  resolutions,  though  their  immediate  effect  was 
not  conspicuous,  appear  to  have  first  drawn  public 
attention  to  the  evils  prevalent  in  cotton  factories,  and 
to  have  given  the  first  impulse  to  legislation  on  the 
subject.  Peel  owned  his  indebtedness  to  Percival  and 
his  associates  in  the  preparation  of  the  Act  of  1802.^ 

Percival,  it  will  be  seen,  like  Aikin,  was  not  content 
with  drawing  public  attention  to  the  physical  evils 
attendant  on  the  overcrowding  of  factories,  and  the 
resultant  danger  to  the  community,  but  proceeded  to 
point  out  the  effect  upon  the  health  and  the  morals 
of  the  persons,  especially  the  young,  employed  under 
such  inhuman  conditions.  For  the  great  majority  of 
the  early  workers  in  the  cotton-mills  were  children  ; 
and  the  children  began  their  work  as  early  in  many 
cases  as  five  or  six  years  of  age,  and  worked  the  same 
hours  as  the  men  and  women  employed  with  them. 
As  we  have  already  seen,  in  the  passages  quoted  in  a 
previous  chapter  from  Defoe  and  Radcliffe,'  long  before 
the  introduction  of  the  factory  system  the  children  ot 
the  yeoman  and  the  cottager  had  been  employed  from 
a  very  early  age  at  the  spinning-wheel  ;  children  in 
the  workhouses  were  set  to  labour  from  the  age  of 
six  ;  and  the  children  of  the  handloom  weavers,  at  any 
rate  until  the  end  of  the  second  decade  of  the  nineteenth 
century,   worked   side  by   side  with    their  parents   in   the 

*  Report  of  the  Minutes  of  Evidence  on  the  State  of  Children  employed 
in  Manufactories,  1816,  pp.  139-40;  J'roceedini^s  of  the  Board  of  Health 
in  Manchester,  1796-1805.     Manclicstcr,    1805. 

'  Report,  p.   133.  '  Above,  pp.  28,  29. 


THE   FACTORY   SYSTEM  67 

cellars  of  Manchester  and  neighbouring  towns,  often  for 
as  long  as  fifteen  hours  a  day.  There  was  little  sentiment, 
then,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  on  the  part  of  the  parents 
to  prevent  the  exploitation  of  child  labour  ;  and  the 
manufacturer  naturally  looked  to  this  source  to  reduce 
the  expenses  of  working  his  mills.  But  child  labour 
was  not  only  cheap  and  tractable,  it  was  also  peculiarly 
suited  for  the  manufacturer's  requirements.  Much  of 
the  labour  incident  to  the  working  of  cotton-spinning 
machinery  was  of  the  lightest  kind.  The  machines  ran 
of  themselves.  The  attendants  had  merely  to  piece 
together  the  broken  threads,  remove  accidental  obstruc- 
tions, and  clean  the  machines  ;  and  for  work  of  this 
kind  a  child's  slender  fingers  and  small  lithe  body  were 
admirably  fitted.  Thus  William  Lockhart,  writing  of  the 
New  Lanark  Mills  under  David  Dale,  says,  "  The  greater 
number  of  children  a  widow  has,  she  lives  so  much 
the  more  comfortably  :  and  upon  such  account  alone 
she  is  often  a  tempting  object  to  a  second  husband. 
Indeed  at  cotton-mills  it  often  happens  that  young 
children  support  their  aged  parents  by  their  industry."  ^ 

Child  labour,  then,  was  regarded  as  essential  to 
the  profitable  working  of  the  cotton-mills.  But  it  is 
probable  that  in  a  town  like  Manchester  the  evils 
attendant  on  the  employment  of  children,  to  which 
Percival  and  Aikin  drew  attention,  were  mitigated  by 
various  circumstances.  Many  of  the  children  employed, 
it  is  likely,  lived  in  the  town  with  their  parents  ;  and 
in  any  case  the  conditions  of  life  in  a  large  city,  and 
the  force  of  public  opinion,  would  do  something  to 
keep  cruelty  and  oppression  within  bounds.     But  cotton- 

^  Sinclair's  Statistical  Account  of  Scotland,  Vol,  XV. 


68  ROBERT   OWEN 

mills  at  this  time  were  worked  by  water-power,  and 
many  were  necessarily  built  in  remote  districts,  far 
removed  from  supervision  by  public  opinion  or  the 
possibility  of  legal  interference.  In  such  circumstances, 
there  being  no  resident  population  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  mills,  the  master  manufacturer  was  forced  to 
look  elsewhere  for  his  supply  of  child  labour.  In  any 
case  he  would  have  found  it  difficult  to  obtain  as  many 
volunteers  as  he  required,  for  parents  very  generally 
at  this  time  regarded  it  as  discreditable  to  send  their 
children  to  work  in  the  factories.  The  father  who 
allowed  his  child  to  enter  a  mill  "  made  himself  the 
town's  talk,  and  the  unfortunate  girl  so  given  up  by 
her  parents  in  after  life  found  the  door  of  household 
employment  closed  against  her,  because  she  had  been 
a  factory  girl."  ^  In  these  circumstances  the  manu- 
facturer drew  upon  the  only  available  source  of  supply — 
the  parish  apprentices.  In  those  days  it  was  the  practice 
for  pauper  children,  from  the  age  of  six  and  upwards, 
to  be  employed  on  useful  work,  either  in  the  workhouse 
itself,  or  as  apprentices  to  outside  employers.  In  the 
Bloomsbury  Workhouse,  for  instance,  there  were  some 
two  hundred  children,  from  the  age  of  six  to  twelve  or 
fourteen,  employed  for  ten  hours  a  day  in  summer  and 
nine  in  winter,  their  chief  occupations  being  to  wind  silk 
or  to  pick  oakum."  But  the  children  were  as  a  rule 
apprenticed,  as  opportunity  served,  to  outside  employers 
— farmers,  manufacturers,  etc.  ;  and,  in  the  early  years 
of  the  great  industry,  very  large  numbers  of  them  were 
thus    sent    to     the     spinning-mills.      So     great    was     the 

'  "Alfred,"  History  of  the  Factory  Movement,  1857,  Vol,  I.,  p.  16. 
'  Evidence  of  Dr.  Ogle  before  the  Committee  of  1816. 


THE   FACTORY    SYSTEM  69 

demand  for  child  labour  that  the  apprentices  went  in 
many  cases  when  only  six  years  old — some  even  younger 
— to  serve  their  time  in  the  factories.  Many  of  the 
first  mills,  as  already  shown,  were  of  necessity  built  in 
remote  districts,  far  from  any  possibility  of  effective 
supervision.  Many  of  the  early  masters  were  men  of 
little  education,  sprung  from  the  ranks  of  the  yeomen 
or  even  labourers  :  men  of  coarse  fibre,  and  drunk  with 
the  prospects  of  unlimited  wealth.^ 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  fill  in  the  details  of  the 
picture  :  they  may  be  found  in  the  ghastly  story  told 
by  Robert  Blincoe,^  and  the  evidence  given  before  the 
Committee  of  1832.  Even  where  the  mill-owners  were 
themselves  liberal  and  humane,  the  vicious  system  still 
permitted  all  manner  of  iniquity  and  oppression.  Here 
is  a  description  given  by  Sir  R.  Peel  of  the  state  of 
affairs,  towards  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  in  his 
own  mill  at  RadclifFe  :  ^  ''  The  house  in  which  I  have 
a  concern  gave  employment  at  one  time  to  near  a 
thousand  children  of  this  description  (i.e.  parish  ap- 
prentices). Having  other  pursuits,  it  was  not  often 
in  my  power  to  visit  the  factories,  but  whenever  such 
visits  were  made,  I  was  struck  with  the  uniform  appear- 
ance of  bad  health,  and  in  many  cases  stunted  growth  of 

*  See  Hutchins  and  Harrison,  A  History  of  Facto7y  Legislation  (1903), 
p.  19;  Gaskell,  O71  the  Manufacturing  Population,  1833,  pp.  52,  53. 

^  Memoir  of  Robert  Bli7icoe,  an  Orphan  Boy.     Manchester,  1832. 

Robert  Blincoe  was  a  pauper  child,  who  in  1799,  ^^  the  age  of  seven, 
was  sent,  with  a  number  of  other  workhouse  apprentices,  to  a  cotton-mill, 
where  he  was  forced  to  work  fourteen  hours  a  day,  "  half-starved  and 
cruelly  treated  by  his  taskmaster."  In  manhood  he  wrote  an  account 
of  his  experiences,  which  was  edited  and  published  by  John  Brown, 
who  appears  to  have  been  at  some  pains  to  verify  the  painful  facts 
given  in  the  narrative. 

'  Report  of  1816,  p.  133. 


70  ROBERT   OWEN 

the  children  :  the  hours  of  hibour  were  regulated  by  the 
interest  of  the  Overseer,  whose  remuneration  depending 
on  the  quantity  of  work  done,  he  was  often  induced  to 
make  the  poor  children  work  excessive  hours,  and  to  stop 
their  complaints  by  trifling  bribes.  Finding  our  own 
factories  under  such  management,  and  learning  that 
like  practices  prevailed  in  other  parts  of  the  Kingdom 
where  similar  machinery  was  in  use,  the  children  being 
much  overworked,  and  often  little  or  no  regard  paid 
to  cleanliness  and  ventilation  in  the  building,"  Peel 
proceeded,  as  he  told  the  Committee  of  1816,  to  intro- 
duce the  Act  of  1802  in  order  to  remedy  the  evils  thus 
brought  to  light. 

Peel  in  short  invoked  the  law  to  do  what  he  was 
unable  to  do  for  himself.  For,  in  a  case  such  as  this, 
good  intentions  on  the  part  of  an  employer,  however 
well  disposed,  were  of  little  avail.  Nothing  less  than 
personal  and  incessant  supervision  would  suffice  to 
prevent  oppression  and  abuse.  A  further  illustration  is 
affiDrded  by  the  history  of  the  works  at  New  Lanark, 
the  management  of  which  devolved  upon  Robert  Owen 
at  the  begiiuiing  of  1800.  David  Dale,  their  sole  owner 
for  some  years,  was,  as  "  Alfred  "  says,  "  known  as  one  of 
the  most  spirited,  enterprising  and  benevolent  men  of 
his  age,"  and  New  Lanark  was  *' one  of  the  miost 
humanely  conducted  factories  in  the  Empire."  ^  It  had 
been  made  the  subject  of  a  laudatory  notice  in  the  Annual 
Register  for  1782,^  the  writer  dwelling  specially  on 
the  provision  made  by  Dale  for  the  health  and  comfort 
of   the   children   employed:    '*  The   boys   enjoy  hours  of 

'  History  of  the  Factory  Movement,  Vol.  I.,  px  20. 
'  Part  II.,  p.  33* 


THE   FACTORY   SYSTEM  71 

relaxation  in  succession.  Their  apartment  was  likewise 
clean  and  well  aired,  and  ten  schoolmasters  are  daily 
employed  in  their  tuition." 

Again,  the  reports  of  the  "  Society  for  Bettering  the 
Condition  and  Increasing  the  Comforts  of  the  Poor  " 
contain  an  account  by  Sir  Thomas  Bernard,  given  on  the 
authority  of  Professor  Garnett  of  the  Royal  Institution, 
on  the  state  of  New  Lanark  under  David  Dale.  The 
report  mentions  that  five  hundred  children  are  employed, 
who  are  entirely  fed,  clothed,  and  educated  by  Dale  :  and 
that  "  the  healthy  and  pleasurable  appearance  of  these 
children  has  frequently  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
traveller."  The  Reporter  goes  on  to  note  that  cleanliness 
and  fresh  air  are  insisted  on  ;  the  children  wash  them- 
selves before  work  and  after  it  ;  boys  and  girls  lodge 
apart,  in  airy  rooms  ;  their  clothes  are  regularly  washed  ; 
they  receive  good  food  and  plenty  of  it.  Their  supper 
is  fixed  at  7.0  p.m.  ;  and,  supper  over,  they  attend 
classes  until  9.0  p.m.  Three  regular  masters,  it  is 
added,  instruct  the  lesser  children  during  the  day.  Seven 
others  assist  in  the  evening.^ 

There  is  no  mention  in  this  last  account  of  any 
provision  for  holidays — unless  attendance  at  Church  on 
Sundays  may  be  reckoned  as  coming  under  that  head,  and 
as  the  church  held  only  one  hundred  and  fifty,  and  from 
five  hundred  to  eight  hundred  children  were  employed, 
even  this  form  of  recreation  could  only  be  enjoyed  at  long 

^  Reports,  Vol.  II,  (1800),  pp.  2fi^  seqq.  The  date  of  the  Reporter's 
visit  is  not  given  by  Bernard.  But  see  Dr.  Garnett's  own  Report,  Tour 
through  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  first  published  in  1800.  Dr.  Garnett's 
visit  was  apparently  made  in  1799,  ^^^  he  mentions  in  a  footnote  that  an 
English  company,  of  whom  his  friend  Owen  was  one,  have  just  purchased 
the  mills. 


72  ROBERT   OWEN 

intervals.^  Their  hours  of  work  were  eleven  and  a  half  a 
day,  i.e.  thirteen  hours,  with  intervals  of  one  and  a  half  hours 
for  meals.  For  the  rest,  the  report  is  chiefly  noteworthy 
for  the  fact  that  the  Reporter  thinks  it  necessary  to  mention 
that  the  elementary  rules  of  health  and  decency  were 
not  violated  in  the  model  factory  of  the  Empire.  In 
*'  Alfred's  "  History  we  find  a  more  critical  account  of  the 
conditions  under  which  New  Lanark  Mills  were  worked. 
Mr.  Dale,  like  most  of  the  employers  of  his  time,  found 
some  difliculty  in  procuring  a  sufficient  supply  of  free 
labour,  a  difficulty  which  was  no  doubt  increased  by 
the  remote  situation  of  his  mills.  The  surrounding 
peasantry,  accustomed  to  their  own  standard  of  comfort 
and  personal  freedom,  refused  to  enter  his  employment. 
Mr.  Dale  built  cottages  near  the  mills,  but  so  great  was 
the  aversion  to  work  in  a  factory  that  "  very  few,  not 
being  homeless  and  friendless,  would  accept  of  house- 
accommodation  from  Mr.  Dale  on  the  lowest  possible 
terms."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  his  mills  were  largely 
recruited  in  1791,  as  we  read  in  Garnett's  report,  from 
the  passengers  on  a  vessel,  with  two  hundred  emigrants 
from  Skye,  which  was  wrecked  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  Clyde. 

In  this  difficulty  Dale,  like  others,  ''  applied  to  the 
managers  of  charities,  and  the  parish  authorities  of 
Edinburgh,  for  a  supply  of  children.  The  application 
was  successful,  and  the  children  under  Mr.  Dale's 
control  ultimately  numbered  five  hundred.^  Mr.  Dale,  in 
exchange   for    the    services   of  these   children,   undertook 

'  David  Dale's  letter  to  Manchester  Board  of  Health. 

'  In  November,  1793,  according  to  Lockhart  (Sinclair's  Statistical 
Account  of  Scotland,  Vol.  XV.)  there  were  795  persons  under  18  employed 
at  the  New  Lanark  Mills,  of  whom  2c  4  were  less  than  ten  years  old. 


THE   FACTORY   SYSTEM 


73 


to  feed,  lodge  and  clothe  them.  It  has  been  our  lot," 
*'  Alfred  "  continues,  "  to  know  two  women,  who,  in  early 
life,  had  been  Mr.  Dale's  apprentices.  On  the  authority 
of  these  witnesses,  Mr.  Dale  was  a  man  of  benevolent 
disposition,  but  seldom  visited  his  factories  ;  when  he 
did  visit  them,  it  was  remarked  that  '  things  were  put 
in  better  order,'  and  he  sometimes  brought  the  children 
little  presents,  and  was  at  heart  the  friend  of  his  work- 
people. .  .  .  The  ages  of  the  children  when  apprenticed 
to  Mr.  Dale  were  from  five  to  eight,  the  period  of 
apprenticeship  from  seven  to  nine  years,  the  hours  of 
labour  in  the  factory  from  six  in  the  morning  to  seven 
in  the  evening."^ 

Owen,  in  his  evidence  before  the  Committee  of  1816, 
explained  that  from  these  thirteen  hours  were  to  be 
deducted  one  and  a  half  hours  allowed  for  meals,  so  that 
the  children  actually  worked  eleven  and  a  half  hours  a 
day.^  In  describing  the  state  of  the  children  on  his 
taking  over  the  management,  Owen  explained  to  the 
Committee  that  the  children  under  Mr.  Dale's  regime 
were  "  extremely  well  fed,  well  clothed,  well  lodged,  and 
very  great  care  taken  of  them  out  of  the  mills."  Never- 
theless, in  consequence  of  the  long  hours  of  work  and 
their  tender  years,  their  growth  was  stunted,  their  limbs 
occasionally  deformed,  and  through  sheer  exhaustion 
they  made  very  slow  progress  in  the  night-school, 
even  in  learning  the  alphabet.  Dale  himself,  writing 
in  1796  to  the  Manchester  Board  of  Health,  can  only 
claim   that    out    of   507    scholars,    80    could    read    well, 

^  History  of  the  Factory  Movement,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  19,  20. 

'  The  hours  were  from  6.0  a.m.  to  7.0  p.m.,  with  intervals  from 
9  to  9.30  a.m.  and  from  2.0  to  3.0  p.m.  (David  Dale's  letter  to  Manchester 
Board  of  Health). 


74  ROBERT    OWEN 

and  24  of  these  So  stood  in  no  need  of  further 
instruction    in    reading. 

And  in  many  mills  at  this  time  the  children  were 
not  well  fed,  well  clothed  or  well  lodged,  little  or  no 
care  was  taken  for  their  physical  and  moral  welfare : 
the  hours  of  work  were  even  longer,  and  the  conditions 
far  more  oppressive. 

So  matters  stood  when  Owen  entered  in  January, 
I  800,  on  his  duties  at  New  Lanark.  To  place  his  future 
work  there  in  its  true  proportions,  it  is  desirable  at  this 
point  to  anticipate  a  little,  and  to  refer  briefly  to  the 
course  taken  by  the  Factory  Movement  up  to  18  16. 

Moved  by  the  considerations  already  set  forth,  and 
with  the  assistance,  as  he  has  told  us,  of  Percival 
and  other  Manchester  doctors,  Sir.  R.  Peel  prepared  and 
passed  through  Parliament  in  1802  a  measure  known 
as  the  "  Health  and  Morals  of  Apprentices  Act."  The 
Act  prescribed  the  periodical  whitewashing  of  all  factories 
and  the  introduction  of  proper  ventilation.  For  the  rest, 
its  provisions  related  solely  to  the  employment  of  parish 
apprentices,  who  formed  at  the  time  the  vast  majority 
of  the  children  and  young  persons  employed  in  factories. 
The  maximum  working  hours  for  apprentices  were  fixed 
at  twelve  a  day  ;  night  work  was  to  be  discontinued  ;  the 
apprentices  were  to  be  instructed  in  reading,  writing,  and 
arithmetic  ;  to  go  to  church  once  a  month  ;  and  separate 
sleeping-apartments  were  to  be  provided  for  the  two 
sexes.  The  Act,  less  no  doubt  by  the  force  of  its  legal 
sanctions  than  by  the  attention  which  it  called  to  the 
subject,  and  by  the  standard  of  humanity  set  up,  appears 
to  have  helped,  with  other  social  forces,  in  bringing  about 
some    improvement    of  the    conditions    of  child   labour. 


THE    FACTORY   SYSTEM  75 

The  newer  factories  were  built  with  more  regard  to 
sanitary  requirements  ;  the  rooms  were  loftier  ;  they 
were  better  ventilated  ;  more  attention  was  paid  to 
cleanliness — the  last  reform  being  made  in  the  interests 
of  the  masters  quite  as  much  as  in  those  of  the  workmen. 
Working  throughout  the  night  was  gradually  discon- 
tinued. A  more  important  and  not  wholly  beneficial 
change  was  the  substitution  of  "  free  "  labour  for  the 
system  of  apprenticeship.  Many  causes  working  con- 
currently appear  to  have  contributed  to  this  change. 
By  some  employers,  no  doubt,  the  provisions  of  the 
Act  of  1 802  were  felt  to  impose  irksome  restrictions, 
whereas  there  was  no  power  but  that  of  the  parents 
to  impose  limits  on  the  labour  of  "  free  "  children.  And 
of  the  parents,  it  seems  clear,  some  had  too  little  humanity, 
and  many  were  too  poor  to  dare  enter  a  protest.  Again, 
apprentices  were  now  more  difficult  to  procure.  The 
magistrates  in  many  towns  refused  any  longer  to  allow 
the  pauper  children  to  be  apprenticed  to  the  cotton 
manufacturers,  or  qualified  their  permission  with  con- 
ditions which  the  employers  were  reluctant  to  accept.  ^ 
Again,  the  reluctance  of  the  parents  to  allow  their 
children  to  enter  the  factories  appears  to  have  gradually 
broken  down,  partly,  no  doubt,  by  greater  familiarity 
with  the  conditions,  largely  under  the  pressure  of  in- 
creasing poverty  as  the  burden   of  taxation   imposed  by 

*  See  Report  of  1816.  Evidence  of  Theodore  Price,  pp.  122,  124, 
on  his  own  refusal,  and  the  refusal  of  the  Birmingham  Magistrates, 
to  sign  indentures  to  cotton-mills.  At  p.  182  it  is  given  in  evidence  that 
the  Preston  Workhouse  authorities  refuse  any  longer  to  apprentice  their 
children  to  cotton-mills.  The  Manchester  Magistrates,  so  early  as  1784, 
had  passed  a  resolution  binding  themselves  not  to  apprentice  to  mills 
where  the  children  worked  more  than  ten  hours  a  day  (Hutchins  and 
Harrison,  op.  cit.^  p.  9). 


76  ROBERT   OWEN 

the  long  wars  grew  heavier  and  heavier.  But  the  main 
cause  of  the  rapid  transformation,  in  the  earlier  years 
of  the  last  century,  in  the  character  of  the  labour 
employed,  is  no  doubt  to  be  found  in  the  altered 
conditions  of  the  industry.  With  the  introduction  of 
steam  as  a  motive-power,  employers  were  no  longer 
forced  to  place  their  factories  by  the  banks  of  streams 
in  out-of-the-way  country  districts.  They  came  now 
by  preference  to  the  large  centres  of  population,  where 
the  markets  were  ready  to  hand,  and  where  labour  was 
abundant. 

From  this  time  onwards  some  of  the  worst  evils 
of  the  factory  system  gradually  disappeared.  The 
children  now  lived  at  home,  in  the  charge  of  their 
parents.  They  had,  at  any  rate,  the  daily  change  of 
scene,  and  such  opportunities  of  home  life  as  could  be 
enjoyed  on  a  Sunday.  The  work  was  done  in  larger 
and  cleaner  buildings,  and  generally  under  healthier 
conditions.  The  master  was  for  the  most  part  of  higher 
social  type,  and  if  not  always  more  humane,  at  least 
more  amenable  to  public  opinion.  And,  not  least,  the 
eves  of  the  public  had  to  some  extent  been  opened. 
But  notwithstanding  all  these  ameliorating  influences,  it  is 
abundantly  clear  from  the  evidence  given  before  the  Select 
Committee  of  1816  how  much  still  remained  to  be  done, 
and  how  inhuman  were  the  conditions  at  the  best.  The 
children  began  work  far  too  young.  The  manufacturers 
took  such  labour  as  they  required  when  it  was  offered 
by  the  parents  :  and  the  parents  sent  their  children  to 
the  mill  as  soon  as  they  were  able  to  work,  sometimes 
that  they  themselves  might  live  in  idleness  on  the  money 
so  earned  ;   more  often,  perhaps,  because  they  could  not 


THE   FACTORY   SYSTEM  77 

afford  to  keep  them  at  home.  Thus  Mr.  John  S.  Ward 
and  Mr.  Peter  Noaille  gave  evidence  before  the  Committee 
of  1 816  that  in  their  silk-mills  the  children  commonly 
began  work  at  six  or  seven  years  of  age.  Thomas 
Whitelegg  had  known  children  employed  in  cotton-mills 
at  Manchester  as  early  as  five.  Richard  Arkwright  gave 
evidence  that  children  used  to  enter  the  Cromford  mills 
at  seven  or  eisfht. 

Again,  the  hours  of  work  were  far  too  long.  In  the 
Bloomsbury  Workhouse  the  children  had  worked  ten 
hours  a  day  in  summer  and  nine  in  winter.  Dale  had 
allowed  his  apprentices  to  work  eleven  and  a  half  hours  a 
day  in  all.  But  the  bulk  of  the  manufacturers,  even  the 
best  and  most  enlightened  of  their  number,  who  gave 
evidence  in  18 16  had  fixed  the  minimum  hours  of  work 
at  twelve  a  day  or  seventy-two  a  week.  Generally  this 
meant  a  stretch  of  thirteen  hours,  with  one  interval  of  an 
hour  for  dinner  ;  breakfast  and  tea  being  brought  to  the 
child  in  the  mill,  and  snatched  at  intervals  during  the 
work,  the  machinery  going  at  full  speed  all  the  while. 
Sometimes  the  interval  for  dinner  was  omitted,  and  the 
children  were  forced  day  after  day  to  work  twelve  hours 
without  a  break. ^  Some  manufacturers  worked  regularly 
from  5  a.m.  to  7  p.m.,  with  but  one  hour's  interval — or 
thirteen  hours'  solid  work  in  the  day.  In  many  cases 
even  this  limit  was  exceeded.  In  the  Backbarrow  Mills 
the  regular  hours,  all  the  year  round,  were  from  5  a.m. 
to  8  p.m.,  with  but  one  hour's  interval  for  meals.  And 
many  of  these  hapless  children  were  in  addition  called 
upon  to  attend  several  hours  on  Sunday  for  the  purpose 
of  cleaning  the  machinery.  Peel  himself  expressed  the 
*  Report,  pp.  212,  213. 


78  ROBERT    OWEN 

opinion   that   fourteen   or    fifteen   hours  work    a  day  had 
become  too  general.^ 

It  was  contended  by  the  manufacturers  that  these  long 
hours  were  not  really  hours  of  work  ;  that  the  children 
had  to  be  in  attendance,  but  that  no  physical  exertion 
was  involved,  since  they  had  merely  to  watch  the 
machines,  and  piece  the  broken  threads.  But  they  had 
to  stand  practically  for  the  whole  time.  In  most  mills  no 
provision  was  made  for  their  sitting  down  at  all  ;  and  one 
manufacturer,  Mr.  William  Sidgwick,  more  outspoken 
than  the  rest,  put  the  facts  very  clearly  : 

*'  Q. — When  a  child  is  found  sitting  in  the  mill,  is 
not  that  contrary  to  the  rules  ? 

**  y^. — Certainly,  I  expect  them  to  be  at  work. 

*'  Q.— The  whole  day? 

*'  J. — Yes  :  the  master  will  not  notice  it,  if  the  work 
is  in  a  proper  state. 

"  a. — If  the  threads  were  not  breaking,  and  the  work 
was  going  on  properly,  you  would  have  no  objection  to 
their  sitting  down  ? 

"  yl. — No  :  I  should  not,  occasionally  ;  but  it  might 
become  a  habit. 

"  U. — Could  they  sit  down,  and  yet  be  able  to  super- 
intend the  threads  ? 

"  yi. — Not  correctly  :  I  think  they  would  see  those  in 
the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  their  seats,  but  not 
those  at  the  other  end,  perhaps."  - 

The  evil  effects  of  the  long  hours  of  confinement  and 
the  fiitigue  of  standing  were  much  enhanced  by  the  heated 
atmosphere.  After  1802  the  ventilation  of  the  mills, 
as  already  said,  was  much   better   than   it  had  been.      But 

'  Rfport,  p.  137.  Ibid.,  p.  118. 


THE   FACTORY   SYSTEM  79 

it  appears  that  the  finer  qualities  of  yarn,  at  any  rate, 
required  a  warm  atmosphere  ;  and  in  many  factories  the 
air  was  accordingly,  summer  and  winter,  maintained  at  a 
temperature  of  about  80  degrees. 

Under  such  conditions  it  was  inevitable  that  the  health 
of  the  children  should  deteriorate.  The  medical  wit- 
nesses testified  to  a  general  impairment  of  the  physique  ; 
the  digestion  suffered,  the  whole  organism  was  enfeebled  ; 
the  children  became  pale,  slight,  and  weedy-looking. 
Specific  ailments  of  various  kinds  were  induced.  More- 
over, accidents,  owing  to  the  fingers  and  other  parts 
of  the  body  being  caught  in  the  moving  machinery,  were 
by  no  means  infrequent,  especially  towards  the  close  of 
the  long  day's  work. 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  the  children  had  little 
energy  left  to  take  advantage  of  the  educational  oppor- 
tunities which,  as  the  masters  one  after  another  explained 
to  the  Committee,  were  freely  offered  to  them.  Some  of 
the  employers  provided  an  hour's  schooling  in  the 
evening,  for  such  as  chose  to  attend  after  thirteen  hours' 
work  in  the  day.  Others  placed  their  reliance  upon  the 
religious  and  moral  instruction  which  could  be  afforded 
in  the  Sunday  Schools.  But  attendance  at  the  schools 
was,  as  a  rule,  voluntary,  and  but  a  small  proportion  of 
the  children  cared  to  come. 

Such,  then,  were  the  general  conditions  of  child  labour 
in  the  cotton-factories  up  to  the  passing  of  the  Factory 
Act  of  1 8 19.  To  what  extent  Owen  succeeded  in 
ameliorating  the  lot  of  the  children  employed  at  New 
Lanark  we  shall  see  in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER    V 

iVEJF  LANARK 

THUS  in  January,  1800,  Robert  Owen  entered  upon 
his  kingdom.  The  road  from  the  old  grey  town 
of  Lanark  to  the  mills  runs  for  about  a  mile  between 
stone  walls  across  a  treeless  and  somewhat  bleak  plateau, 
which  forms  a  stern  setting  for  the  beauty  of  New 
Lanark  itself.  For  some  miles  above  the  town  of  Lanark 
the  Clyde  flows  through  a  deep  ravine  between  banks 
which  form  precipitous  cliffs  of  no  great  height  at  the 
water's  edge,  and  then  shelve  backwards  at  a  slope  which 
permits  of  their  being  covered  with  a  luxuriant  growth 
of  woodland.  For  some  distance  the  river  falls  in  a 
series  of  cascades — the  Falls  of  the  Clyde  :  but  by  the 
time  it  reaches  New  Lanark  the  descent  has  become 
less  rapid,  the  channel  has  broadened  out,  and  the 
river  retreats  so  as  to  leave  on  one  shore,  between 
the  wooded  banks  and  the  stream,  a  broad,  gently 
sloping  shelf  of  rock.  The  stream  itself  widens  to 
a  crescent  shape  at  this  point,  and  half  its  channel 
is  occupied  by  a  small,  richly  green  island.  Just 
opposite  this  island,  on  the  broad,  almost  flat  shelf 
which  forms  the  floor  of  a  natural  amphitheatre, 
whose  steep  sides,  clothed  with  trees,  rise  abruptly 
to    the  plateau  above,  lie    the    village    and    the    Mills — 


FU 


ELIC 


J 


H  L 


NEW   LANARK  8i 

three  or  four  rows  of  grey  stone  houses,  and  four 
gaunt  cotton-mills,  seven  storeys  high,  not  indeed 
smoke-begrimed,  but  planned  with  as  rigid  an  economy 
of  the  beautiful  as  cotton-mills  in  any  other  part  of 
the  world.  The  cold  grey  colouring  and  the  unlovely 
squareness  of  the  buildings  make  up  a  picture  which 
seems  altogether  unworthy  of  the  exquisite  beauty  of 
its  frame. 

Such  was  New  Lanark  as  it  was  built  by  Richard 
Arkwright  and  David  Dale  in  1784  ;  such  it  was  when 
Robert  Owen  made  his  home  there  in  1800  ;  twenty- 
five  years  later,  when  he  left  it  for  ever,  the  chief 
outward  memorial  of  his  labours  and  his  dreams  were 
two  large  buildings  hardly  less  ungainly  than  the  mills 
themselves.  And  to  this  day  the  external  aspect  of 
the  place  is  scarcely  changed  ;  to  this  day  the  mills 
depend  for  their  motive-power  upon  the  water  brought 
from  an  upper  reach  of  the  river  through  the  long 
tunnel  which  David  Dale  caused  to  be  dug  out  of 
the  solid  rock. 

In  January,  i  800,  the  establishment,  the  sole  manage- 
ment and  direction  of  which  were  vested  in  Robert 
Owen,  consisted  of  some  1,800  or  2,000  persons,  of 
whom  about  500  were  children  from  the  parish 
workhouses  who  had  been  apprenticed  to  the  mills 
for  a  term  of  years.  For  the  rest,  the  original  popula- 
tion, as  Owen  described  it  twelve  years  later,  was  '*  a 
collection  of  the  most  ignorant  and  destitute  from  all 
parts  of  Scotland,  possessing  the  usual  characteristics  of 
poverty  and  ignorance.  They  were  generally  indolent 
and  much  addicted  to  theft,  drunkenness  and  falsehood, 
with  all  their  concomitant  evils,  and  strongly  experiencing 

VOL.    I.  6 


82  ROBERT   OWEN 

the  misery  which  these  ever  produce."  ^  Nevertheless 
he  was  able  in  1812  to  write  that  these  same  persons 
*'  had  now  become  conspicuously  honest,  industrious, 
sober  and  orderly,  and  that  an  idle  individual,  one  in 
liquor,  or  a  thief,  is  scarcely  to  be  seen  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end  of  the  year."  " 

But  this  result  had  been  brought  about  gradually 
and  in  the  face  of  manv  difficulties  and  discourac^cments. 
To  begin  with,  Owen's  "  government,"  as  he  himself 
calls  it,  was  a  strictly  limited  monarchy.  He  seems 
indeed  to  have  had  from  his  partners  the  full  trust  and 
confidence  to  which  his  past  career  as  a  successful  manu- 
facturer entitled  him.  But  he  was  a  junior  partner,  a 
man  himself  with  little  capital,  acting  as  the  representative 
of  men  older  and  wealthier  than  himself.  They  were 
simply  manufacturers,  probably  neither  better  nor  worse 


'  No  man  is  an  impartial  witness  in  his  own  cause,  and  there  can,  I 
think,  be  little  doubt  that  to  make  the  contrast  more  effective,  Owen  un- 
consciously darkened  the  shadows  in  the  picture  which  he  drew  of  the 
state  of  New  Lanark  in  1800.  Dale,  as  has  been  said,  was  a  just  and 
benevolent  man,  and  he  had  certainly  done  much  to  improve  the  lot  of 
his  workpeople.  He  had  set  his  face  against  drunkenness  and  immorality  ; 
he  had  provided  good  food,  clothing,  and  housing  for  the  children,  and  had 
given  them,  in  addition,  the  means  of  proper  schooling  ;  he  had  set  up  a 
store  at  which  articles  of  good  quality  could  be  purchased  at  a  cheap  rate. 
That  these  measures  had  failed  of  their  full  effect  for  want  of  the  continuous 
supervision  which  only  the  master's  eye  could  have  exercised,  must  be 
admitted.  But  there  is  sufficient  testimony  to  assure  us  that  the  state  of 
New  Lanark  under  Dale  was  not  quite  so  desperate  as  it  was  represented 
by  Owen.  [See  in  particular  Lorkhart's  report  in  the  Statistical  Account 
quoted,  and  a  A  Refutation  0/ Mr.  Owen's  System,  by  the  Rev.  John 
Aiton,  Edinburgh,  1824.  Aiton,  though  strongly  biassed  by  his  theological 
views,  is  on  the  whole  a  fair-minded  witness.]  But  Owen  did  without 
doubt  effect  a  marvellous  improvement,  partly  by  working  on  the  lines  laid 
down  by  D.ile,   partly  by  innovations  of  his  own. 

'  Statement  regarding  the  New  Lanark  Establishment.  Edinburgh, 
1812. 


NEW   LANARK  83 

than   their  contemporaries,   looking    in  the   first    instance 
for  a  large   return  on   their   capital,    and   little   likely  to 
share  their  junior  partner's  enthusiasm  for  reforming  the 
world.     The  junior  partner^s  first  concern,  then,  was  to 
secure  an  ample  dividend  :   whatever  measures  he  under- 
took which  had  not  this  result  for  their  immediate  aim, 
must,  in  so  far  as  they  involved  expenditure,  be  justified 
on    the    score   of  their    ultimate    commercial    advantage. 
But  the  opposition  to  Owen's  schemes  which  proceeded 
from  the  workpeople   themselves  was  more  serious,  be- 
cause   more    difiicult    to    combat,    and    to    one    of    less 
sanguine  temperament  must  have   proved  almost    hope- 
lessly discouraging.     The    late   proprietor,   David    Dale, 
had    given    a    hundred    proofs    of  his    goodwill    to    the 
people  who  worked  in  his  factories.     He  had  failed,  no 
doubt,  to  devote  the  incessant  personal  attention  to  the 
business  which  was  necessary  for  the    complete    realisa- 
tion of  his  benevolent  intentions  :  but  he  had  done  what 
he  could  ;  the  people  knew  him  as  a  just  man,  and  one 
who    cared   for   something    beyond   the   profit  which   he 
derived  from  their  labour.     But  Owen  and  his  associates 
had  come  from  England — in  itself  matter  for  hostility — 
with    novel    ideas    and    speaking    an    unfamiliar    tongue. 
The  old  managers  had  been  dismissed,  the  old  machinery 
displaced  :   and  now  the  new  manager  wished  to  impose 
new  customs  and  regulations,  and  to  teach  new  ways  of 
doing  the  work.     To  what  could  all  these  things  tend 
but    the    piling    up    of    bigger    dividends,    and     heavier 
burdens  on  the  workers.     The  cotton  lords  of  England 
had  certainly  given  the  poor  little  cause  to  credit  them 
with  any  disinterested  desire  for  the  well-being  of  their 
operatives  :  if  the  people  of  New  Lanark  viewed  Owen's 


84  ROBERT   OWEN 

innovations    with     suspicion     and     even    overt     hostility, 
they  had  at  any  rate  some  reason  for  their  conduct. 

Step  by  step,  however,  and  month  by  month,  the 
fine  simplicity  of  the  man,  his  pure  unalloyed  good- 
will, his  high  character,  made  themselves  felt  ;  and 
all  opposition  was  finally  conquered,  when,  in  iSo6, 
the  American  embargo  on  cotton  exportation  had  nearly 
brought  the  trade  to  a  standstill.  It  was  impossible 
to  continue  working  the  mills  ;  but  Owen  persuaded 
his  partners  to  allow  the  workpeople  their  full  wages 
for  the  tour  months  during  which  the  embargo  lasted  ; 
and  by  this  act  of  w^ise  generosity  he  finally  won  the 
full  confidence  and  affection  of  all  those  employed  in 
the  factories.^ 

After  the  discharge  of  the  former  managers  and 
the  instalment  in  their  place  of  a  man  called  Humphreys, 
who  on  Owen's  recommendation  had  succeeded  him  in 
Mr.  Drinkwater's  factory,  Owen's  next  step  was  to 
replace  the  obsolete  types  of  machinery,  a!id  to  intro- 
duce improved  methods  of  working.  He  then  set 
himself  to  fight  the  dishonesty  and  drunkenness  which 
prevailed  to  a  ruinous  extent.  Writing  twelve  years 
later,  he  says,  "  He  soon  discovered  that  theft  was  ex- 
tended through  almost  all  the  ramifications  of  the 
community,  and  the  receipt  of  stolen  goods  through  all 
the  country  around.  To  remedy  this  evil,  not  one  legal 
punishment  was  inflicted,  not  one  individual  imprisoned, 
even    for    an    hour  ;    but    checks    and    other    regulations 

'  In  this  Owen  f(jllowed  a  precedent  set  by  bis  predecessor.  One 
of  the  mills  first  built  was  burnt  to  the  ground  in  1788;  and  two  hundred 
and  fifty  people  were  thrown  out  of  employment.  David  Dale  is  said 
to  have  paid  them  their  full  wages  luitil  the  mill  could  be  started  again 
[Threading  tny  Way,  by  Robert  Dale  Owen,  p.  15). 


NEW   LANARK  85 

were  introduced.  They  were  at  the  same  time  instructed 
how  to  direct  their  industry  in  legal  and  useful  occupa- 
tions. Thus  the  difficulty  of  committing  the  crime 
was  increased,  the  detection  afterwards  rendered  more 
easy,  the  habit  of  honest  industry  formed,  and  the 
pleasure  of  good  conduct  increased."  ^ 

To  combat  the  second  evil,  he  appointed  caretakers, 
who  patrolled  the  streets  of  the  village  each  night,  and 
reported  all  who  were  found  intoxicated.  On  the 
following  morning  the  offenders  were  duly  fined.  Partly 
because  of  this  discipline,  but  more  perhaps  as  a  gradual 
result  of  the  influence  of  a  higher  public  sense  on  such 
matters,  drunkenness  became  so  rare  in  the  establishment 
that  the  statement  quoted  at  the  beginning  of  the 
present  chapter  seems  to  have  been  no  idle  boast. 
Owen's  young  son,  Robert  Dale,  tells  us  that  one  day  in 
his  twelfth  year  {i.e.  in  1813),  when  accompanying  his 
father  on  the  daily  visit  to  the  mills,  he  saw  ''  at  a 
little  distance  on  the  path  before  us,  a  man  who  stopped 
at  intervals  in  his  walk,  and  staggered  from  side  to 
side. 

"  '  Papa,'  said  I,  '  look  at  that  man.     He  must  have 
been  taken  suddenly  ill.' 

"  '  What  do    you  suppose  is   the    matter    with   him, 
Robert  ? ' 

'' '  I  don't  know.     I  never  saw  any  man  act  so.     Is 
he  subject  to  fits  .?     Do  you  know  him,  papa  } ' 

'' '  Yes,    my  dear,  I  know  him.     He  is  not  subject 
to  fits,  but  he  is  a  very  unfortunate  man.' 

"  '  What  kind  of  illness  has  he  ^.  ' 

^  Second   Essay   on   the   Formation   of  Character,   quoted   in    Auto- 
biography, Vol.  I.,  pp.  279-80. 


86  ROBERT   OWEN 

"  My  father  stopped,  looked  first  at  the  man  before 
us,  and  then  at  nie.  '  Thank  God,  my  son,'  he  said 
at  last,  '  that  you  have  never  before  seen  a  drunken 
man.'  "  ^ 

Not  the  least  important  of  Owen's  innovations  was 
the  village  store.  The  establishment  of  New  Lanark 
had  sprung  up  suddenly,  under  artificial  conditions, 
apart  from  the  usual  channels  of  food-supply.  The 
population  was  thriftless  ;  and  the  retail  shopkeepers 
seem  to  have  ministered  to  their  thriftlessness  by  selling 
their  wares  on  credit,  and  necessarily  at  extravagant 
prices.  The  articles  sold  were  of  poor  quality,  and 
all  the  shops  sold  spirits.  Owen  started "  a  store  on 
behalf  of  the  proprietors,  purchasing  food  and  clothing 
of  good  quality  wholesale,  and  retailing  them  at  a 
moderate  profit  to  all  who  chose  to  purchase.  The 
prices  charged,  though,  as  Owen  tells  us,  some  25  per 
cent,  lower  than  those  of  the  private  shopkeepers, 
were  yet  sufificient  to  cover  all  the  expenses  of  the 
business,  and  leave  a  profit  ot  about  £700  a  year, 
which  was  devoted  entirely  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
schools.  So  that  he  was  able  to  point  out  to  the 
Committee  of  18 16,  as  he  had  no  doubt  already  pointed 
out   to  his  partners,   that    the    expenses    of   the    schools 

^  T/treadifi(f  ?/iy  Hay,  p.  71.  Owen  did  not,  however,  succeed  in 
entirely  stopping  the  practice  of  drinking  on  New  Year's  Day.  Fines  were 
inflicted  for  the  irregularity,  and  a  special  holiday  in  the  summer  was 
offered  to  all  who  would  come  to  work  as  usual  on  New  Year's  Day, 
instead  of  giving  up  the  day  to  idleness  and  drink.  But  these  measures 
appear,  even  as  late  as  1814,  to  have  met  with  little  success  (see  John 
Walker's  letter  dated  December  26,  18 14,  and  the  order  in  relation  to 
New  Year's  Day  quoted  in  New  Kxisknce,  Part  V.,  pp.  Ixix-lxx. 

*  Or  more  probably  improved  and  set  going  again  a  store  already 
started  by  Dale. 


NEW   LANARK  87 

did  not  form  a  charge  on  the  profits  of  the  mills,  but, 
in  the  most  literal  sense,  were  borne  by  the  people 
themselves.^ 

But  the  innovation  which  aroused  the  most  active 
opposition  was  Owen's  insistence  upon  cleanliness  and 
good  order  in  the  village  streets,  and  in  the  houses  of 
the  people.  He  found  the  streets  unswept — a  rubbish 
heap  or  dunghill  in  front  of  each  door — the  houses 
small,  neglected,  and  dirty  :  the  natural  decay  of  the 
fabric  being  expedited  by  the  action  of  the  tenants,  who 
in  some  cases  would  burn  the  window-shutters  and 
inside  doors  for  firewood,  and  then  decamp.^  Owen, 
at  the  expense  of  the  company,  as  it  would  seem, 
enlarged,  repaired,  and,  where  necessary,  rebuilt  the 
houses,  removed  the  dunghills,  and  cleansed  the  streets.^ 

He  further  drew  up  a  set  of  rules  providing  for 
the  observation  of  proper  cleanliness,  order,  and  good 
behaviour  on  the  part  of  all  the  inhabitants  in  future. 
Under  these  rules  (which  are  printed  in  full  in  the 
Appendix  to  Part  V.  of  The  New  Existence  of  Man  upon 
Earth)  every  house  was  to  be  cleaned  once  a  week  and 
whitewashed  at  least  once  a  year  by  the  tenant  ;  the 
tenants  were  further,  in  rotation,  to  provide  for  the 
cleaning  of  the  public  stairs  and  the  sweeping  of  the  road- 
way in  front  of  their  dwellings  ;  it  was  forbidden  to 
throw  ashes  and  dirty  water  into  the  streets,  or  to  keep 
cattle,  swine,  poultry  or  dogs  in  the  houses.  There 
were  provisions  for  the  prevention  of  trespass  and 
damage    to    the    company's    fences    and    other  property. 

^  Report  of  1816,  p.  22.     See  also  Autobiograpliy,  Vol.   I.,  p.  63. 
-  New  Existence,  Part  V.  (1854),  Appendix,  p.  xi. 
^  Robert  Owen  at  New  Lanark  (1839),  p.  4. 


88  ROBERT   OWEN 

In  the  winter  months  all  doors  were  to  be  closed  at 
10.30,  and  no  one  was  to  be  abroad  without  permission 
after  that  hour.  The  minimum  age  for  children  to 
begin  work  in  the  mills  was  fixed  at  ten,  and  from 
five  to  ten  years  of  age  all  children  might  attend,  free 
of  charge,  the  school  provided  by  the  company. 
Temperance  in   the  use  of  liquors  was  enjoined. 

The  two  final  rules  are  of  sufficient  interest  to  be 
quoted   in   full  : 

*'  18.  That  as  there  are  a  very  great  variety  of 
religious  sects  in  the  world  (and  which  are  probably 
adapted  to  different  constitutions  under  different  cir- 
cumstances, seeing  there  are  many  good  and  conscientious 
characters  in  each),  it  is  particularly  recommended,  as  a 
means  of  uniting  the  inhabitants  of  the  village  into  one 
family,  that  while  each  faithfully  adheres  to  the  principles 
which  he  most  approves,  at  the  same  time  all  shall  think 
charitably  of  their  neighbours  respecting  their  religious 
opinions,  and  not  presumptuously  suppose  that  theirs 
alone  are   right." 

"  19.  And,  lastly.  That  all  the  village  shall,  to  the 
utmost  of  their  power  as  far  as  is  consistent  with  their 
duty  to  God  and  society,  endeavour,  both  by  word  and 
deed,  to  make  e\ery  one  happy  with  whom  they  have 
any   intercourse." 

The  government  of  the  establishment,  it  will  be  seen, 
was  of  a  paternal  kind.  But  Owen  was  not  so  ill-advised 
as  to  attempt  to  enforce  foreign  standards  of  cleanliness 
upon  an  unwilling  peasantry  by  sheer  despotism,  however 
benevolent.  The  constitution  provided  for  some  kind 
of  representative  government.  The  village  was  divided 
into    wards,    or    ^Mieighbour    divisions,"    each    of   which 


NEW    LANARK  89 

chose  by  ballot  a  '^  principal.'*  The  principals,  in  turn, 
met  together  and  chose  from  among  their  number  twelve 
jurymen,  who  were  charged  with  the  twofold  duty  of 
seeing  that  the  regulations  were  duly  understood  and 
observed,  and  of  acting  as  a  judicial  board,  to  try  offenders 
and  to  mete  out  appropriate  punishment.  Some  of  these 
delegates  had,  in  the  beginning  of  the  new  regime,  no 
enviable  task  to  fulfil.  From  an  anonymous  pamphlet, 
written  by  one  who  had  himself  been  brought  up  in 
Owen's  time  at  New  Lanark,  we  get  a  peep  behind  the 
scenes.^  Owen  "  advised  that  they  should  appoint  a 
committee  from  amongst  themselves,  every  week,  to 
inspect  the  houses  in  the  village  and  to  insert  in  a  book, 
to  be  given  for  that  purpose,  a  faithful  report  of  the 
state  of  each  house  as  they  might  happen  to  find  it. 
This  recommendation  w^as  upon  the  whole  pretty  cordially 
acceded  to  by  the  male  part  of  the  population,  but  the 
rage  and  opposition  it  met  with  from  the  women,  I  well 
remember,  was  unbounded.  They  almost  unanimously 
resolved  to  meet  the  visitants  with  locked  doors.  They 
bestowed  upon  them  the  appellation  of  '  Bug  Hunters,' 
and  Mr.  Owen  escaped  not  without  his  share  of  the 
general  odium." 

Robert  Dale  Owen  tells  us  that  gradually  the  opposi- 
tion was  overcome,  the  force  of  example  and  the  kindness 
and  tact  of  Owen  and  his  wife  doing  much  to  bring  about 
the  desired  result.  Meanwhile  an  example  of  order  and 
cleanliness  was  set  by  the  master  himself.  "  Within  the 
mills  everything  was  punctiliously  kept.  Whenever  I 
visited  them  with  my  father,  I  observed  that  he  picked 

^  Robert  Owen  at  New  Lanark,  etc.^  by  one  formerly  a  teacher  at  New 
Lanark.     Manchester,  1839. 


90  ROBERT   OWEN 

up  the  smallest  flocks  of  cotton  from  the  floor, 
handing  them  to  some  child  near  by,  to  put  into 
his   waste-bag. 

*'  '  Papa,'  said  I  one  day,  '  what  does  it  signify — such 
a  little  speck  of  cotton  ?  ' 

*'  *  The  value  of  the  cotton,'  he  replied,  '  is  nothing, 
but  the  example  is  much.  It  is  very  important  that 
these  people  should  acquire  strict  habits  of  order  and 
economy.'  "  ^ 

One  instance  of  Owen's  benevolent  disposition  must 
be  quoted  at  length,  for  it  illustrates  not  less  the  paternal 
attitude  which  he  assumed  towards  his  people,  than  the 
filial  response  which  it  seems  to  have  elicited.  Surely 
no  man  ot  less  admirable  simplicity  could  have 
ventured  to  propound,  or  have  succeeded  in  imposing, 
a  device  such  as  that  described  in  the  following 
extract  : — 

"  But  that  which  I  found  to  be  the  most  efficient 
check  upon  inferior  conduct,  was  the  contrivance  of  a 
silent  monitor  for  each  one  employed  in  the  establishment. 
This  consisted  of  a  four-sided  piece  of  wood,  about  two 
inches  long  and  one  broad,  each  side  coloured — one  side 
black,  another  blue,  the  third  yellow,  and  the  fourth 
white,  tapered  at  the  top,  and  finished  with  wire  eyes, 
to  hang  upon  a  hook  with  either  side  to  the  front.  One 
of  these  was  suspended  in  a  conspicuous  place  near  to 
each  of  the  persons  employed,  and  the  colour  at  the 
front  told  the  conduct  of  the  individual  during  the 
preceding  day,  to  tour  degrees  of  comparison.  Bad, 
denoted  by  black  and  No.  4, — indifferent  by  blue,  and 
No.  3, — good  by   yellow,  and  No.   2, — and  excellent  by 

^   Threading  my  W  ay,  p.  73. 


NEW   LANARK  91 

white,  and  No.  i.^  Then  books  of  character  were 
provided  for  each  department,  in  which  the  name  of 
each  one  employed  in  it  was  inserted  in  the  front  of 
succeeding  columns,  which  sufficed  to  mark  by  the 
number  the  daily  conduct,  day  by  day,  for  two  months  ; 
and  these  books  were  changed  six  times  a  year,  and 
were  preserved ;  by  which  arrangement  I  had  the 
conduct  of  each  registered  to  four  degrees  of  comparison 
during  every  day  of  the  week,  Sundays  excepted,  for 
every  year  they  remained  in  my  employment.  The 
superintendent  of  each  department  had  the  placing  daily 
of  these  silent  monitors,  and  the  master  of  the  mill 
regulated  those  of  the  superintendents  in  each  mill.  If 
any  one  thought  that  the  superintendent  did  not  do 
justice,  he  or  she  had  a  right  to  complain  to  me,  or,  in 
my  absence,  to  the  master  of  the  mill,  before  the  number 
denoting  the  character  was  entered  in  the  register.  But 
such  complaints  very  rarely  occurred.  The  act  of  setting 
down  the  number  in  the  book  of  character,  never  to 
be  blotted  out,  might  be  likened  to  the  supposed  re- 
cording angel  marking  the  good  and  bad  deeds  of  poor 
human   nature."  ^ 

Owen  tells  us  that  the  plan  succeeded  admirably,  and 
that,  as  the  years  went  on,  black  and  blue  gave  place  to 
yellow  and  white.  But  probably  the  plan  was  not  put 
into  operation  until  he  had  succeeded  in  gaining  the 
confidence  of  the  people  by  other  measures. 

^  Joseph  Lancaster,  who,  as  a  Quaker,  was  opposed  to  corporal 
punishment,  used  leather  labels,  stamped  with  gilt  letters,  to  indicate 
various  degrees  of  merit  and  demerit  amongst  his  scholars.  It  is  possible 
that  Owen  may  have  borrowed  the  idea  of  the  silent  monitor  from  this 
source  (see  A  Comparative  View  of  the  Plans  of  Education  of  Dr.  Bell 
and  Mr.  Lancaster,  by  Joseph  Fox,  London,  i8c8). 

'  Autobiography,  Vol.  L,  pp.  80,  81. 


92  ROBERT   OWEN 

At  the  outset  Owen  had  resolved  to  take  on  no 
more  parish  apprentices,  but  to  draw  the  necessary  supply 
of  child  labour  from  the  population  resident  in  Lanark, 
and  it  does  not  appear  that  he  ever  found  difficulty  in 
procuring  the  services  of  as  manv  children  as  were 
required.  As  we  have  already  seen,  he  fixed  the  limit 
of  ao^e  at  ten  ;  below  that  age  the  children  might,  if 
the  parents  chose,  attend  the  school,  but  there  was  no 
work  for  them  in  the  factory.  On  a  point  of  scarcely 
less  importance  he  was  compelled  to  defer  to  the  wishes 
of  his  partners.  Dale  had  worked  the  mills  thirteen 
hours,  with  intervals  of  one  and  a  half  hours  for  meals. 
Monstrous  as  those  hours  appear  to  us,  especially  when 
we  remember  that  a  large  proportion  of  those  employed 
were  young  children,  they  were  too  merciful  for  the 
ordinary  manufacturer  of  that  day.  Owen  told  the 
Committee  of  1816  that  for  some  time  during  his 
management  the  hours  of  work  at  the  New  Lanark  Mills 
were  fixed  at  fourteen  a  day  (including  two  hours  intervals 
for  meals).  It  was  not  until  January,  18  16,  that  he  was 
enabled  to  reduce  the  hours  to  twelve  a  day,  with  one 
and  a  quarter  hours  for  meals,  leaving  ten  and  three- 
quarter  hours  for  actual  work.  In  other  ways  he  found 
his  liberty  of  action  during  these  early  years  hampered 
by  his  partners  :  they  on  their  part  seem  ultimately  to 
have  taken  alarm  at  the  magnitude  of  his  schemes  for 
bettering  the  condition  of  the  operatives.  They  presented 
him  with  a  silver  salver,  but  hinted  disapproval  of  the 
mixture  of  philanthropy  and  business.  In  the  result 
Owen  agreed  to  purchase  the  mills  from  them  at  the 
price  of  ^^84, 000.  This  was  in  1809.  During  the  ten 
years  of  the  partnership,  Owen  reckoned  that  the  business 


NEW   LANARK  93 

had  produced,  over  and  above  interest  at  the  rate  of 
5  per  cent,  on  the  capital  invested,  a  dividend  of  about 
j^6o,ooo,  of  which  sum  _^7,ooo  had  been  expended  in 
payment  of  wages  for  the  four  months  when  the 
machinery  stood  idle.^ 

Owen  now  formed  a  new  partnership  to  purchase 
and  work  the  mills.  One  of  his  late  partners,  John 
Atkinson,  joined  the  new  venture.  The  other  members 
were  Dennistown  and  Alexander  Campbell,  sons-in-law 
of  Mr.  Campbell  of  Jura,  a  relative  of  Mrs.  Owen,  and 
Colin  Campbell,  an  associate  of  Alexander  Campbell. 
But  the  new  partners  proved  even  less  amenable  than 
their  predecessors.  Owen  had  planned  to  provide  a 
large  schoolroom,  lecture  hall,  dining-room,  and  other 
public  institutions.  The  building  which  was  to  serve 
these  various  purposes — a  huge  structure  145  feet  long 
by  45  feet  wide — had  already  been  completed,  at  a 
cost  of  some  ^3,000  :  the  fittings  and  furniture  were, 
according  to  Owen's  plan,  to  cost  as  much  again.  But 
his  partners  objected  to  further  expenditure  on  projects 
not  directly  remunerative.  They  objected  also  to  his 
liberal  scale  of  wages  and  salaries,  and  generally  to  his 
schemes  of  social  improvement.  The  differences  became 
in  the  course  of  two  or  three  years  so  acute  that  Owen 
once  more  offered  to  buy  the  concern  at  a  reasonable 
valuation.  On  their  refusal  to  sell,  he  resigned  his 
position  as  managing  director.  Owen  then  proceeded 
to  draw  up  a  pamphlet  stating  the  history  of  New 
Lanark  ;  what  had  already  been  done  and  what  he  had 
hoped   to   do  for  furthering  the  cause  of  education  and 

^  Compare  Statement  Regarding  the  New  Lanark  Establishment,  p.  9, 
with  R.  Owen's  Autobiography,  Vol.  I.,  p.  87. 


94  ROBERT   OWEN 

improving  the  position  of  the  people  employed  ;  and 
appealinnr  to  benevolent  and  wealthy  men  to  join  with 
him  in  purchasing  the  business,  not  merely  for  the 
immediate  good  to  be  effected  to  the  population  actually 
employed  in  the  mills,  but  also  that  the  establishment 
"  might  be  a  model  and  example  to  the  manufacturing 
community,  which  without  some  essential  change  in  the 
formation  of  their  characters,  threatened,  and  now  still 
more  threatens,  to  revolutionise  and  ruin  the  empire."  ^ 

A  great  part  of  the  years  1812-13  was  spent  in 
London,  partly  on  the  search  for  new  partners,  who 
should  be  men  of  like  mind  with  himself,  partly  on  the 
business  of  seeing  through  the  press  the  first  two  of 
his  Essays  on  the  Formation  of  Character.  The  following 
letter,  which  bears  the  postmark  ist  February,  18 13 — the 
earliest  letter  of  Owen's  which  has  been  preserved — refers 
to  his  doings  in  London  at  this  time,  and  to  the  WTiting 
of  the  Essays. 

"To  Mrs.  Owen, 

"  Braxfield,  Lanark. 

"London,  34,  Fenchurch  Street. 

"  Monday  evening. 

'*  Mr.  Clegg's  letter,  which  I  have  just  received,  gave 

me,    my    dearest    Caroline,    the    greatest    pleasure,   as    it 

informed  me  that  you,  our  sisters,  and  all  our  dear  pets 

were   well  and  Robert  getting  daily   better."     To    know 

that  you  arc  well   is  the  greatest  pleasure   I   have,  except 

to  hear  that  you  are  happy,  as  that  includes  something 

still  more  than  health,  and   I   now  look  with   the  greatest 

delight    to   my   return,  which   I   shall  expedite  by  every 

'  Statement^  p.  4. 

'  Robert  Dale,  the  eldest  son,  had  a  long  and  serious  illness  this  year. 


From  a  print  after  a  draiving  by  Swart,  published  in  1822. 
ROBERT   OWEN. 


-^i.p  :--v;  \'3F-r.      I 


y    A^•D 


NEW   LANARK  95 

means  in  my  power.  I  have  been  from  London 
since  Saturday  morning,  part  of  the  time  with  Mr. 
Lancaster  at  Labrador  House,  part  with  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Tom  Borradaile  and  the  Coles,  whom  our  dearest  Jane 
and  Julia  know,  and  part  with  the  celebrated  and  learned 
Dr.  Ireland,  whom  none  of  you'I  daresay  know — whatever 
you  may  do  hereafter.  My  time  is  therefore  as  fully 
occupied  as  ever,  and  I  have  much  to  do  yet  before  I 
can  leave  the  work  which  I  have  commenced.  The 
first  part  of  it,  however,  comes  out  to-morrow,  and  the 
second  which  I  have  in  hand  will  finish  all  I  intend  to 
do  this  journey.  And  it  must  afterwards  find  its  level 
and  accomplish  its  own  work.  I  shall  however  leave  it 
in  very  good  hands. 

''  But  what  am  I  to  say,  my  dearest  Caroline,  to  relieve 
your  anxieties  in  the  meantime,  particularly  about  my 
first  appearance  before  the  public.  All  that  just  now 
occurs  to  me  to  say  is  that  it  has  been  written  with 
care  and  read  and  inspected  by  men  of  the  acknowledged 
and  finest  abilities  of  all  parties,  and  approved  by  all. 
But  the  second  is  of  far  more  importance  in  some 
respects.  But  it  will  not  contain  any  doctrines  which 
will  not  be  admired  ^  by  the  leaders  of  all  the  sects  and 
parties  in  the  kingdom.  You  need  not  therefore  have 
any  fears  regarding  my  proceedings,  which  will  soon  prove 
on  what  foundation  they  proceed.  I  am  interrupted 
by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Borradaile,  and  to  save  post  must  hastily 
conclude.  With  kind  love  and  kisses  to  all  our  dear 
boys  and  girls  and  sisters,  with  remembrances  to  all  the 
household.     Tell   [word    undecipherable]    Mr.  Lancaster 

*  So  apparently  in  the  original — though  "admitted  "  would  make  better 
sense. 


96  ROBERT   OWEN 

spoke  to  mc  about  his  visit  to  London,  which  I  cannot 
object  to.  Mr.  Clegg  must  supply  him  with  money 
for  his  jourtiev  if  he  sets  out  before  I  return  home, 
but  I  will  see  Mr.  Lancaster  before  1  can  say  when  he 
ought   to  set  out. 

''  In  haste,  my  dearest  Caroline,  I  must  conclude,  with 
kindest  wishes  for  your  happiness,  and  that  you  will 
soon  have  all  your  wishes  fulfilled. 

"  With  the  sincerest  affection, 

*'  Your  truly  attached  husband, 

^'R.  Owen." 

In  the  result  Owen  succeeded  in  getting  promises 
of  the  capital — about  ;^  130,000  in  all — required  to 
purchase  the  New  Lanark  Mills.  The  most  famous  of 
the  new  partners  was  Jeremy  Bentham,  who  consented 
to  receive  Owen  in  person.  "  After  some  preliminary 
communication  with  our  mutual  friends  James  Mill  and 
Francis  Place,  his  then  two  chief  counsellors,  and  some 
correspondence  between  him  and  myself,  it  was  at  length 
arrived  at  that  I  was  to  come  to  his  hermit-like  retreat 
at  a  particular  hour,  and  that  1  was,  upon  entering,  to 
proceed  upstairs,  and  we  were  to  meet  half-way  upon  the 
stairs.  I  pursued  these  instructions,  and  he,  in  great 
trepidation,  met  me,  and  taking  my  hand,  while  his 
whole  frame  was  agitated  with  the  excitement,  he  hastily 
said — *  Well  !  well  !  It  is  all  over.  We  are  introduced. 
Come  into  my  study.'  "  ^ 

*  Autobiography,  Vol.  I.,  p.  96.  Some  fifteen  years  later  young  Robert 
Dale  Owen  was  invited  to  Bcntham's  house.  The  philosopher's  parting 
words  to  him  were,  "  God  bless  yoti,  if  there  be  such  a  Being,  and,  at  all 
events,  my  young  friend,  take  care  of  yonxsQM."— {Threading  my   Way, 


NEW   LANARK  97 

Of  the  other  partners  four  were  members  of  the 
Society  of  Friends — William  Allen,  John  Walker,  Joseph 
Fox,  and  Joseph  Forster — and  one,  Michael  Gibbs,  a 
member  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  afterwards  Lord 
Mayor  of  London.  Of  all  the  new  partners  William 
Allen  seems  to  have  taken  the  most  active  part  in  the 
management  of  the  affair.  The  proprietor  of  some  large 
chemical  works,  and  himself  a  student  of  science,  a 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  lecturer  on  natural 
and  experimental  philosophy  at  Guy's  Hospital,  zealous 
in  good  works,  especially  in  the  cause  of  popular  education 
and  social  reform,  he  was  before  all  things  a  devout,  if 
somewhat  narrow-minded  Christian.^ 

Robert  Owen's  views  on  religious  questions  were  at 
this  time  not  so  fully  developed  as  in  later  years,  or 
he  was  at  less  pains  to  promulgate  them.  There  is  no 
indication  in  the  two  Essays  on  the  Formation  of  Character^ 
pubHshed  in  this  year  (18 13),  that  the  author  rejected 
all  religious  revelation.  At  all  events  William  Allen,  in 
December,  1813,  seems  to  have  had  no  forewarning  that 
he  was  about  to  ally  himself  with  one  whom  he  would 
have  considered  an  infidel.  His  hesitation  and  timidity 
as  to  joining  the  partnership  appear  to  have  proceeded 
rather    from    the   excessive    scrupulousness   of  a   devout 

^  Robert  Dale  Owen  gives  an  amusing  illustration  ol  Allen's  strictness. 
One  day  the  youth  was  dining  at  Allen's  house  in  Plough  Court.  The 
host  asked  the  guest,  "Will  thee  have  more  roast  beef?"  Absorbed  in 
conversation,  young  Owen  declined,  but  later  asked  leave  to  change  his 
mind,  only  to  meet  with  the  answer,  "  Robert,  thee  has  already  refused." 
No  second  supply  was  forthcoming  {Threading  ?ny  Way,  p.  87). 
Allen  at  about  this  time  was  editing  the  Philanthropist,  a  monthly  journal 
devoted  to  Social  Reform,  and  especially  to  Education.  He  was  one  of 
the  trustees  of  the  Duke  of  Kent's  estates,  and  no  doubt  introduced 
Owen  to  the  Prince.  At  a  later  date  Allen  started  an  Agricultural  Colony 
and  Industrial  Schools  at  Lindfield  in  Sussex. 

VOL.    I.  7 


98  ROBERT   OWEN 

and  conscientious  Christian  about  to  embark,  on  an 
enterprise  of  a  novel  kind.^  On  December  27,  1813, 
however,  the  matter  was  finally  settled  between  Owen 
on  the  one  hand,  and  Allen,  Walker,  and  Fox,  on  the 
other.' 

Owen's  late  partners,  Atkinson  and  the  Campbells, 
had  refused  to  sell  the  business  at  an  agreed  price,  and 
the  whole  concern  was  therefore  advertised  for  sale 
by  "  public  roup."  From  the  advertisement,  which 
appeared  in  the  Glasgow  Herald  of  December  24,  18  13, 
we  learn  that  the  establishment  consisted  of  four  cotton- 
mills,  three  of  seven  and  one  of  six  storeys,  a  long 
building  454  ft.  x  20,  used  as  a  storeroom  ;  a  machine 
shop  ;  a  brass  and  iron  foundry  ;  and  another  building 
which   is  thus  described  : 

"  There  is  also  another  building  of  the  following 
dimensions,  at  present  unoccupied,  145  ft.  X  45  ft. 
over  the  walls,  containing  a  cellar  140  ft.  long  x  19 
ft.  broad,  and  9  ft.  high  ;  first  floor^  above  the  cellars, 
one  room  140  X  40  X  11.6  high;  second  floor,  140 
X  40  X  21  high.  This  building  has  been  planned 
to  admit  of  an  extensive  store  cellar,  a  public  kitchen, 
eating  and  exercise  room,  a  school,  lecture  room,  and 
Church.  All  of  which,  it  is  supposed,  may  be  fitted 
up  in  a  very  compleat  manner  for  a  sum  not  exceeding 
^2,500,   and   this  arrangement   may  be  formed   so  as  to 

'  See  Life  of  William  Allen  (1846),  Vol.  I.,  p.  180, — "much  exercised 
in  mind  about  Now  Lanark,"  and  again,  "  I  had  much  conflict  of  mind 
on  account  of  the  responsibihty  involved  in  it.  I  trust,  however,  I  had 
a  degree  of  evidence  that  it  was  right." 

'  Bentham,  apparently,  came  in  after  the  purchase  had  actually  been 
completed  (see  letter  dated  January  8,  1814,  from  Allen  to  Owen,  quoted 
in  New  Existence,  Tart  V.,  p.  Ixvi.). 


NEW   LANARK  99 

create  permanent  and  substantial  benefits  to  the  in- 
habitants of  the  village,  and  to  the  proprietors  of  the 
Mills." 

The  31st  December,  18 13,  four  days  after  Owen's 
agreement  with  his  new  partners,  was  fixed  on  as  the 
date  for  the  sale  by  auction.  In  the  interval  the  old 
partners  had,  according  to  Owen,  spread  rumours  to 
depreciate  the  value  of  the  property,  hoping  to  be  enabled 
to  buy  it  in  at  much  less  than  its  real  value,  and 
supposing  that  Owen,  of  whose  recent  proceedings  they 
appear  to  have  been  in  ignorance,  would  be  unable  in 
any  event  to  find  the  purchase-money.  The  property 
was  put  up  at  ^60,000,  Owen  having  arranged  with 
his  new  friends  not  to  let  it  go  under  ^120,000.  The 
price  gradually  mounted  up,  the  old  partners  advancing 
by  bids  of  ^1,000  and  Owen's  solicitor  capping  each  bid 
with  an  advance  of  ;^ioo.  The  persistence  of  Owen's 
representative  seems  to  have  disconcerted  his  opponents, 
for  their  final  bid  was  ^114,000,  and  the  property  was 
in  the  event  knocked  down  to  Owen  at  ^114,100.^ 

Owen  dispatched  a  mounted  messenger  to  carry  the 
news  to  his  wife  at  New  Lanark,  and  a  few  days  later,  as 
soon  as  the  necessary  business  formalities  had  been 
completed,  followed  himself  with  two  of  his  new  partners, 
Joseph  Fox  and  Michael  Gibbs.^     The  following  extract 

^  Owen  tells  us  ^that  his  late  partners  had  made  so  sure  of  the  victory 
.that  they  had  invited  their  friends  to  a  dinner  to  celebrate  it.  At  the 
dinner  one  of  the  guests,  Colonel  Hunter,  knowing  that  his  hosts  had  for 
weeks  past  been  running  down  the  value  of  the  property,  ironically 
proposed  the  toast  of  "Success  to  those  who  had  sold  for  ^114,100  a 
property  which  they  had  valued  at  ^40,000  only"  {Autobiography, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  92). 

'  See  extracts  from  their  letters,  alluding  to  their  reception  at  New 
Lanark,  published  in  New  Existence,  Part.  V.,  p.  Ixvii. 


793317  A 


loo  ROBERT   OWEN 

from  a  letter  published  in  the  Glasgow  Herald  of 
January  lo,  1814,  describes  the  reception  with  which 
they  met.  The  letter  is  dated  Lanark,  January  5,  18 14. 
"  There  were  great  rejoicings  here  yesterday  on 
account  of  Mr.  Owen's  return,  after  his  purchase  of 
New  Lanark.  The  Society  of  Free  Masons  at  this 
place,  with  colours  flying  and  a  band  of  music,  ac- 
companied by  almost  the  whole  of  the  inhabitants,  met 
Mr.  Owen,  immediately  before  his  entrance  into  the 
burgh  of  Lanark,  and  hailed  him  with  the  loudest 
acclamations  of  joy  ;  his  people  took  the  horses  from 
his  carriage  and,  a  flag  being  placed  in  front,  drew  him 
and  his  friends  along,  amid  the  plaudits  of  the  sur- 
rounding multitudes,  until  they  reached  Braxfield,  where 
his  Lady  and  two  of  her  sisters  being  prevailed  upon 
to  enter  the  carriage,  which  was  then  uncovered,  the 
people  with  the  most  rapturous  exultation  proceeded  to 
draw  them  through  all  the  streets  of  New  Lanark,  where 
all  were  eager  to  testify  their  joy  at  his  return.  On  being 
set  down  at  his  own  house,  Mr.  Owen,  in  a  very 
appropriate  speech,  expressed  his  (^acknowledgements  to 
his  people  for  the  warmth  of  their  attachment,  when 
the  air  was  again  rent  with  the  most  enthusiastic  bursts 
of  applause.  Mr.  Owen  is  so  justly  beloved  by  all  the 
inhabitants  employed  at  New  Lanark,  and  by  people 
of  all  ranks  in  the  neighbourhood,  that  a  general  happi- 
ness has  been  felt  since  the  news  arrived  of  his  continuing 
a  proprietor  of  the  mills.  The  houses  were  all  illuminated 
at  New  Lanark  on  Friday  ^  night  when  the  news  came, 
and  all  has  been  jubilee  and  animation  with  them  ever 
since." 

'  December  31,  1813. 


NEW   LANARK  loi 

It  was  not  only  Owen's  own  workpeople  who  took 
part  in  this  demonstration  :  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
of  Old  Lanark  insisted  on  testifying  their  respect  and 
admiration  for  their  neighbour  by  joining  the  crowd  and 
helping  to  draw  the  carriage  through  the  streets.  His 
Quaker  friends,  Owen  tells  us,  were  much  alarmed  at 
the  first  moment  when  they  saw  the  multitude  running 
towards  them  on  their  nearing  the  town  of  Lanark,  and 
afterwards  proportionately  pleased  with  the  affection 
and  gratitude  manifested  by  the  people.^  Owen  himself, 
we  are  told,  warmly  expostulated  with  those  who  pro- 
posed to  harness  themselves  to  his  carriage,  protesting 
that  the  working  classes  had  already  too  long  been  treated 
like   the  brutes.^ 

*  Autobiography^  Vol.  I.,  p.  97. 

'  Robert  Owen  at  New  Lanark ^  p.  16. 


CHAPTER    VI 

A    NEW    VIEW    OF  SOCIETY 

THE  name  of  Robert  Owen  is  little  known  to  the 
present  generation  as  an  educational  reformer. 
We  find  scant  mention  of  him  in  Encyclopaedia  articles 
on  Education  or  in  histories  of  pedagogy.  Yet  whether 
we  look  at  the  soundness  and  novelty  of  his  theories, 
the  magnitude  of  the  results  actually  achieved,  or  the 
measure  of  his  reputation  and  influence  amongst  his  con- 
temporaries, we  are  justified  in  awarding  him  a  high  place 
amongst  the  pioneers  of  popular  education.  There  are 
two  main  causes  for  the  undeserved  oblivion  which  has 
fallen  on  this,  not  the  least  fruitful  and  significant  part 
of  his  life's  work.  In  the  first  place,  Owen  published 
no  formal  treatise  on  pedagogy,  unless  indeed  his  Essays 
on  the  Fonnatioji  of  Character  may  be  classed  in  that 
category  ;  he  did  not  even  find  time  to  write  a  systematic 
account  of  the  scheme  of  education  actually  pursued  in 
the  New  Lanark  schools,  nor  did  any  of  his  con- 
temporaries, with  one  exception,  think  it  worth  while 
to  supply  the  omission.  The  only  comprehensive  ac- 
count which  we  possess  is  to  be  found  in  a  small  book 
written  by  his  son,  Robert  Dale  Owen,  in  1824,  which 
seems  to  have  attracted,  in  this  country  at  any  rate,  less 
notice  than  it  deserved. 


A   NEW   VIEW   OF   SOCIETY  103 

But  the  main  cause  for  the  rapid  passing  into  oblivion 
of  Owen's  work  in  this  direction  is,  no  doubt,  to  be 
found  in  his  own  later  history.  It  was  the  ambiguous 
reputation  of  Owen  the  Socialist,  Owen  the  Infidel,  and 
Owen  the  Spiritualist  which  eclipsed  the  fime  of  Owen 
the  founder  of  Infant-schools,  and  the  pioneer  in  this 
country  of  rational  education. 

The  education  of  the  children  of  the  poor  was 
possibly  more  neglected  in  England  at  the  beginning 
of  the  last  century  than  in  any  other  civilised  country. 
The  piety  of  former  generations  had  endowed  numerous 
Grammar  Schools  for  giving  a  liberal  education  to  the 
children  of  the  well-to-do.  Throughout  the  eighteenth 
century  a  large  number  of  charity  schools  had  been 
founded  to  teach  the  children  of  the  poor  to  read  and 
write.  But  even  the  beggarly  elements  offered  by  these 
charity  schools  were  available  only  for  a  few.  The 
buildings  could  accommodate  but  a  fraction  of  those  who 
needed  their  help.  There  was  no  one  to  make  the 
teaching  offered  attractive,  or  in  default  of  such  attraction 
to  compel  the  children  to  come.  Moreover  the  parents 
themselves  were  in  many  cases  unwilling  or  unable  to  fore- 
go their  children's  earnings.  A  large  proportion  therefore 
of  the  children  of  this  country  could  neither  read  nor 
write.  So  late  as  18 16  the  Committee  on  the  Education 
of  the  Lower  Orders  in  the  Metropolis,  presided  over 
-by  Henry  Brougham,  concluded  *'  that  a  very  large 
number  of  children  are  wholly  without  the  means  of 
instruction,  although  their  parents  appear  to  be  generally 
very  desirous  of  obtaining  that  advantage  for  them." 
Owen's  partner  William  Allen,  one  of  the  witnesses 
before  the  Committee,  estimated  the  number  of  children 


I04  ROBERT   OWEN 

in  London  alone  at  that  date  who  were  wholly  without 
education  at  over  100,000.  The  Lancastrian  Association 
had  organised  an  actual  census  in  two  districts  of  London. 
In  the  Covent  Garden  division  they  found  that  out  of 
4,790  children,  2,748  were  wholly  uneducated.  The 
result  of  a  similar  census  in  Spitalfields  showed  that  out 
of  5,953  children,  there  were  2,565  between  six  and 
fourteen  years  of  age  without  any  education.^  These 
figures  applied  to  London  alone.  There  was  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  things  were  better  in  the  rest  of 
England  ;  and  in  the  manufacturing  districts,  where, 
as  already  shown,  the  whole  energies  of  the  children 
were  devoted  from  an  early  age  to  winning  their  bread, 
the  amount  of  education  must  have  been  almost  in- 
finitesimal. 

The  Committee  of  1 8 1 6  was  appointed  as  the  result 
of  a  long  period  of  popular  ferment  on  this  question 
of  education.  From  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century  both  parties  in  the  State  had  been  in  strenuous 
rivalry  to  found  schools  in  the  interest  of  their  own 
views  and  so  capture  the  growing  generation.  The 
Liberals  and  Nonconformists  were  first  in  the  field.  A 
young  Quaker  named  Lancaster,  filled  with  zeal  for 
the  education  of  the  people,  had  begun  in  1798  to  teach 
some  poor  children  near  his  father's  home  in  Southwark. 
As  his  pupils  grew  in  numbers  he  acted  upon  a  plan 
already  formulated  by  Dr.  Bell,  an  army  chaplain  at 
Madras,  and  set  his  pupils  to  teach  each  other.  By 
this  means  he  soon  gathered  nearly  a  thousand  pupils 
at  his  school.  The  problem  of  popular  education  at  an 
inexpensive  rate  seemed  already  solved.  I'he  Noncon- 
'  Report,  pp.  36,  189. 


A   NEW   VIEW   OF   SOCIETY 


105 


formists  and  the  reforming  party  generally  took  up 
Lancaster's  scheme  with  enthusiasm,  and  the  Royal 
Lancastrian  Association,  afterwards  known  as  the  British 
and  Foreign  Schools  Society,  was  founded. 

Amongst  the  most  influential  of  Lancaster's  early 
patrons  were  some  wealthy  members  of  the  Society  of 
Friends,  under  whose  guidance  the  Bible  was  regularly 
read  and  studied  in  the  schools.  But  the  Church  party, 
not  satisfied  with  this  undenominational  instruction, 
supported  Dr.  Bell,  the  original  inventor  of  the  moni- 
torial system,  and  founded  in  opposition  *'  The  National 
Society  for  the  Education  of  the  Poor  in  the  Principles 
of  the  Established  Church."  Both  parties  collected 
funds  and  established  schools  through  the  country.  It 
does  not  appear,  however,  that  either  Bell  or  Lancaster 
aimed  at  any  radical  reform,  beyond  that  already 
mentioned  for  cheapening  the  machinery  of  popular 
education.  Reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  still  formed 
the  staple  of  the  course,  and  these  elements  were  still 
taught  by  crude  mechanical  methods  which  exercised 
the  memory  at  the  expense  of  the  judgment  and  reasoning 
powers. 

The  main  object  aimed  at  by  both  reformers  was 
necessarily  economy.  It  was  economy  which  sug- 
gested to  Bell  setting  the  elder  children  to  teach  the 
younger,  and  the  use  of  sand  instead  of  writing-paper. 
Lancaster  adopted  both  devices,  but  at  a  later  date 
substituted  slates  for  sand.  Both  systems  made  large 
use  of  a  blackboard  for  giving  instruction.  Reading, 
writing  and  arithmetic  lessons  seem  commonly  to  have 
been  given  viva  voce^  the  pupil  writing  the  problem 
down  on  the  slate  from  dictation,  or  copying  it  from  the 


io6  ROBERT   OWEN 

blackboard — the  expense  of  books  for  each  scholar  was 
thus  saved. 

Lancaster  is  credited  with  the  invention  of  syllabic 
spelling  and  some  minor  reforms.  But  both  his  con- 
tributions and  those  of  Dr.  Bell  to  the  art  of  education 
seem  to  have  been  for  the  most  part  of  a  mechanical 
kind.^ 

It  should  be  added  that  the  plan,  essential  to 
the  proper  carrying  out  of  the  monitorial  scheme, 
of  having  a  large  number  of  classes  carried  on  simul- 
taneously under  the  director's  eye  in  one  large  room, 
though  no  doubt  economical,  necessarily  tended  to  impair 
efficiency.  Owen,  who  originally  planned  the  arrange- 
ment of  his  own  schools  at  New  Lanark  somewhat  on 
this  model,  had  come  later  to  regret  his  action  ;  for, 
as  his  son  points  out,  experience  soon  showed  that  it 
was  difficult  to  grain  and  fix  the  attention  of  the  children 
when  a  number  of  separate  centres  of  instruction  were 
carrying  on  business  simultaneously  in  an  immense  room 
ninety  feet  by  forty. 

Owen  had  at  an  early  period  given  generous  assistance 
to  both  Lancaster  and  Bell.  To  the  first  he  had  sent 
subscriptions  amounting  in  all  to  a  thousand  pounds. 
Later,  when  the  Church  party  took  up  Dr.  Bell,  he  had 
offered  them  a  similar  sum  if  they  would  open  their 
schools  without  distinction    of  creed,  and  £soo  if  they 

*  See  A  Comparative  View  of  the  Plans  of  Education  of  Dr.  Bell  and 
Mr.  Lancaster,  by  Joseph  Vox,  1808;  and  Address  in  Recommendation  of 
the  Madras  System  of  Education,  by  Rev.  N.  J.  Hollingsworth,  London, 
1812.  William  Allen,  before  Brougham's  Committee,  estimated  the  cost 
of  conducting  a  school  of  1,000  children  on  the  Lancastrian  plan  at  only 
4^-.  6^/.  a  head.  He  mentions  also  that  both  Bell  and  Lancaster  made  one 
book  serve  for  the  whole  school  {Report,  p.  1 15). 


A   NEW   VIEW   OF   SOCIETY  107 

refused    to    accept    the    condition.     After    some    debate, 
as  Owen  tells  us,  the  smaller  sum  was  accepted.^ 

In  1 8 12  Lancaster  came  to  Glasgow  and  Owen  took 
the  chair  at  a  public  dinner  given  in  his  honour.  In 
a  brief  speech  he  maintained  the  thesis  that  education, 
'*  so  far  at  least  as  depends  upon  our  operations,  is  the 
primary  source  of  all  the  good  and  evil,  misery  and 
happiness,  which  exist  in  the  world."  For  consider, 
said  he,  the  differences,  bodily  and  mental,  which  are 
found  between  different  races  of  mankind,  and  different 
individuals  in  the  same  race.  "  From  whence  do  these 
general  bodily  and  mental  differences  proceed  ?  Are 
they  inherent  in  our  nature,  or  do  they  arise  from  the 
respective  soils  on  which  we  are  born  ^  Evidently  from 
neither.  They  are  wholly  and  solely  the  effects  of  that 
education  which  I  have  described.  Man  becomes  a  wild 
ferocious  savage,  a  cannibal,  or  a  highly  civilised  and 
benevolent  being,  according  to  the  circumstances  in 
which  he    may  be   placed  from  his  birth." 

*'  Let  us  suppose,"  he  proceeded,  ^'  an  exchange  of  any 
given  number  of  children  to  be  made  at  their  birth 
between  the  Society  of  Friends,  of  which  our  worthy 
guest,  Joseph  Lancaster,  is  a  member,  and  the  loose 
fraternity  which  inhabit  St.  Giles's  in  London  ;  the  children 
of  the  former  would  grow  up  like  the  members  of  the 
latter,  prepared  for  every  degree  of  crime,  while  those 
of  the  latter  would  become  the  same  temperate  good 
moral  characters  as  the  former."  ^  How  momentous  in 
its  consequences  for  good  or  evil,  he  concluded,  is  the 
work  of  educating  the  youth  of  the  nation. 

The  passage  contains  two  assumptions,  each  of  which 
*  Autobiography,  Vol.  I.,  p.  84  ;  HoUingsworth,  op.  cit. 


io8  ROBERT   OWEN 

would  in  modern  times  be  held  as  highly  controvertible 
— that  the  differences  between  man  and  man  are  due 
to  differences  in  the  environment,  and  that  the  conditions 
of  the  environment  are  directly  under  human  control. 
These  assumptions,  expressed  or  understood,  informed, 
it  need  scarcely  be  pointed  out,  the  advanced  political 
thinking  of  the  last  half,  at  least,  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  They  are  implied  in  the  Contra t  Social  ;  they 
justified  the  paper  constitution  of  the  Abbe  Sieyes  ; 
they  form  the  basis  of  the  argument  in  Tom  Paine's 
Rights  of  Man  and  in  Godwin's  Political  Justice  ;  they 
are  embodied  in  the  American  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence ;  nay,  they  are  the  unwritten  postulates  on  which 
Liberty,  Equality,  and  Fraternity  ultimately  rest.  They 
found  qualified  expression  in  the  writings  even  of  so 
sober  and  representative  a  thinker  as  Adam  Smith  : 
"  The  difference  of  natural  talents  in  different  men  is  in 
reality  much  less  than  we  are  aware  of:  and  the  very 
different  genius  which  appears  to  distinguish  men  of 
different  professions  when  grown  up  to  maturity,  is  not, 
upon  many  occasions,  so  much  the  cause  as  the  effect 
of  the  division  of  labour.  The  difference  between  the 
most  dissimilar  characters,  between  a  philosopher  and  a 
common  street  porter,  for  example,  seems  to  arise,  not 
so  much  from  nature  as  from  habit,  custom  and  educa- 
tion. When  they  came  into  the  world,  and  for  the 
first  six  or  eight  years  of  their  existence,  they  were  very 
much  alike,  and  neither  their  parents  nor  their  playfellows 
could  perceive  any  remarkable  difference.  About  that 
age  or  soon  after,  they  come  to  be  employed  in  very 
different  occupations.  The  difference  of  talents  comes 
then   to  be  taken   notice   of,   and   widens  by  degrees,   till 


A   NEW   VIEW   OF   SOCIETY  109 

at  last  the  vanity  of  the  philosopher  is  willing  to 
acknowledge  scarce  any  resemblance."  ^ 

These  conceptions,  then,  were  more  or  less  taken  for 
granted  in  much  of  the  literature  of  the  closing  decade 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  Owen  drank  them  in  at 
the  most  impressionable  period  of  his  intellectual  life,  the 
years  between  18  and  28,  which  he  spent  in  Manchester. 
That  he  read  and  studied  at  all  systematically  is  im- 
probable. We  have  seen  that  his  school  education  ceased 
before  he  was  ten  years  of  age.  But  by  his  own  account 
he  was  an  eager  reader  of  books  both  before  and  after 
that  date.  He  tells  us  that  his  hours  of  leisure  at 
Stamford  were  mostly  devoted  to  reading.  When  he 
came  to  Manchester  his  leisure  was  no  doubt  more 
scanty ;  ^  and  his  writings  show  little  trace  of  wide, 
much  less  of  systematic  reading. 

His  son's  account  fully  accords  with  this  view  : 
*'  When  I  first  remember  him,  he  read  a  great  deal, 
but  it  was  chiefly  one  or  two  London  dailies,  with  other 
periodicals  as  they  came  out.  He  was  not,  in  any  sense 
of  the  word,  a  student  ;  one  who  made  his  own  way 
in  life,  unaided  by  a  single  dollar  from  the  age  of  ten, 
could  not  well  be.  I  never  found  in  his  extensive 
library  a  book  with  a  marginal  note,  or  even  a  pencil 
mark  of  his,  on  a  single  page.  He  usually  glanced  over 
books  without  mastering  them  ;  often  dismissing  them 
-with  some  such  curt  remark  as  that  '  the  radical  errors 
shared  by  all  men  made  books  of  little  value.'  Except 
statistical  works,  of  which  his  favourite  was  Colquhoun's 
*  Resources    of  the  British  Empire,'   I    never   remember 

*   Wealth  of  Nations,  Book.  I.,  Chap,  iv, 
'  But  see  above,  Chap,  iii.,  p.  55. 


no  ROBERT   OWEN 

to    have   seen   him    occupied    in    taking   notes   from    any- 
book:  whatever. 

'^  In  this  way  he  worked  out  his  problems  for 
human  improvement  to  great  disadvantage,  missing  a 
thousand  things  that  great  minds  had  thought  and 
said  before  his  time,  and  often  mistaking  ideas  that 
were  truly  his  own,  for  novelties  that  no  human  being 
had  heretofore  given   to   the  world."  ^ 

Owen  thus  got  his  ideas,  as  a  self-educated  man, 
with  little  leisure  for  study,  must  do,  from  few,  and 
those  mostly  secondhand,  sources.  And  he  has  the 
characteristic  defects  of  the  self-educated  thinker.  His 
conceptions  are  presented  with  a  crudity  and  sharpness 
of  definition  impossible  for  one  who  had  continually 
supplemented  his  own  scanty  store  of  observations  and 
reflections  out  of  the  accumulated  riches  of  the  past. 

His  ideas  were  no  doubt  already  belated  even  at 
the  time  when  he  wrote.  In  his  exaggeration  of  the 
importance  of  circumstances — that  is,  post-natal  circum- 
stances— in  forming  character,  he  is  guided  by  the  bias 
of  the  eighteenth  century  thinkers.  But  the  reaction 
against  the  pre-Revolutionary  philosophy  had  set  in 
long  before  1813  :  and  the  great  conception  of  evolution 
was  even  then  dawning  upon  the  world.  Charles 
Darwin,  it  is  appropriate  to  remember,  was  born  just 
four  years  before  the  publication  of  the  first  Essay  on 
the  Formation  of  Character^  BuftxDn,  Goethe,  Erasmus 
Darwin  had  already  written,  and  Lamarck  was  at  the 
time  struggling  with  his  speculations  on  the  origin  of 
species.  It  is  certain,  apart  from  these  great  names, 
that  the  plain  facts  of  inheritance,  though  not,  of  course, 

"    Threading  my   Way,  p.  67. 


A   NEW   VIEW   OF    SOCIETY  iii 

bulking  so  largely  as  in  modern  thought,  were  even 
then  recognised  as  counting  for  much  more  than  Owen 
apparently  had  ever  imagined.  It  is  not  that  he 
dehberately  sets  facts  of  this  kind  on  one  side,  but 
that  he  does  not  apparently  recognise  their  bearing  on 
his  argument.  His  mind  was  dominated  by  the  one 
idea,  and  held  it  in  naked  simplicity,  which  admitted 
neither  deduction  nor  qualification. 

Again,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  his  first  years  at 
New  Lanark  shut  him  off  to  a  great  extent  from  such 
intercourse  with  educated  men  as  he  had  enjoyed  at 
Manchester  ;  and  the  extraordinary  success  of  his  efforts 
for  the  regeneration  of  the  miniature  society  over 
which  he  exercised  lordship  confirmed  and  hardened 
his  views  that  Man  was  the  creature  of  circumstance, 
and  the  reconstruction  of  the  world,  when  this  novel 
truth  was  firmly  grasped,  a  mere  question  of  the  adapta- 
tion of  means  to  ends.  So  that  he  puts  forward  his 
theories  with  the  uncompromising  directness  of  a  child, 
and  with  more  than  a  child's  self-confidence. 

Some  time  in  1812  Owen  had  published,  anony- 
mously, the  pamphlet  already  referred  to — A  Statement 
regarding  the  New  Lanark  Establishment.  During  the 
same  year  he  wrote  his  first  "  Essay  on  the  Principle  of 
the  Formation  of  Human  Character,"  and  pubHshed 
it  early  in  18 13  under  the  title  of  A  New  View  of  Society, 
The  second  Essay  appeared  at  the  end  of  the  same 
year.  Both  were  originally  published  anonymously. 
The  third  and  fourth  Essays,  though  written  about  the 
same  time  and  circulated  amongst  a  large  number  of 
persons  eminent  in  the  social  and  political  world,  were 
not  published  until  July,   1816. 


112  ROBERT   OWEN 

The  key-note  of  the  Essays  is  the  proposition  that 
*'  Any  general  character,  from  the  best  to  the  worsts  from  the 
most  ignorant  to  the  most  enlightened,  may  be  given  to  any 
community,  even  to  the  world  at  large,  by  the  application 
of  proper  means  ;  which  means  are  to  a  great  extent  at 
the  command  and  under  the  control  of  those  who  have 
influence  in  the  affairs  of  menT  ^  Thus  by  suitable 
training  any  standard  of  conduct  and  any  belief,  however 
elevating  on  the  one  hand,  or  absurd  and  injurious  on 
the  other,  can  be  impressed  upon  a  human  being. 
*'  Children  are  without  exception  passive  and  wonderfully 
contrived  compounds,"  which  can  be  moulded  into  any 
form  at  the  pleasure  of  those  who  have  control  over 
them  in  the  plastic  stages  of  infancy  and  childhood.  They 
are  thus  liable  to  be  impressed,  and  as  history  shows  us, 
always  have  received  the  impression  of  the  habits,  senti- 
ments, and  beliefs  held  by  their  parents  and  guardians, 
the  impression  being  modified  only  by  the  circumstances 
in  which  they  are  placed  and,  to  some  small  extent,  by 
the  particular  organisation  of  each  individual.  From 
this  it  follows  that  no  person  is  responsible  for  his  own 
character  and  impulses,  though  the  whole  system  of 
society  and  the  whole  doctrine  of  religion  have  assumed 
the  contrary.  No  human  being  is  properly  the  subject 
of  praise  or  blame,  still  less  of  reward  or  punishment. 
Hence  we  may  perceive  the  absurdity  and  glaring  in- 
justice of  our  penal  laws  :  "  How  much  longer  shall  we 
continue  to  allow  generation  after  generation  to  be  taught 
crime   from   their   infancy,    and,    when    so    taught,    hunt 

'  Autobiography,  Vol  I.,  p.  266.  The  Essajs  in  their  original  form 
being  now  difficult  to  obtain,  the  references  given  in  the  present  chapter 
are  to  the  reprint  of  them  included  in  the  Appendix  to  the  tirst  volume 
of  the  Autobiography. 


^^3iii 


Tmo  woodcuts  from  the  1834  reprint  of  Owen's  Essays  on  the 

FormaUon   of  the   Human    Character,   illustrating  the   effect  ot 

bad  and  good  circumstances  respectively. 


THE  NEW  YOfU: 

roBLICIIBnARY 


Ar^lO«,  LENOX   AND 


A   NEW   VIEW   OF   SOCIETY  113 

them  like  beasts  of  the  forest,  until  they  are  entangled 
beyond  escape  in  the  toils  and  nets  of  the  law  ?  when, 
if  the  circumstances  of  those  poor  unpitied  sufferers  had 
been  reversed  with  those  who  are  even  surrounded  with 
the  pomp  and  dignity  of  justice,  these  latter  would  have 
been  at  the  bar  of  the  culprit,  and  the  former  would 
have  been  in  the  judgment  seat."  ^ 

On  the  other  hand,  "  the  child  who  from  infancy 
has  been  rationally  instructed  in  these  principles,  will 
readily  discover  and  trace  whence  the  opinions  and  habits 
of  his  associates  have  arisen,  and  why  they  possess  them. 
At  the  same  age  he  will  have  acquired  reason  sufficient 
to  exhibit  to  him  forcibly  the  irrationality  of  being  angry 
with  an  individual  for  possessing  qualities  which,  as  a 
passive  being  during  the  formation  of  those  qualities,  he 
had  not  the  means  of  preventing."  -  He  will  thus  be 
moved  to  pity,  not  to  anger,  for  those  less  fortunate 
in  their  upbringing  than  himself  A  child  so  edu- 
cated will  be  filled  with  a  spirit  of  universal  tolerance 
and  good  will  ;  he  will  constantly  desire  to  do 
good  to  all  men,  even  to  those  who  hold  themselves 
his  enemies.  "  Thus  shortly^  directly^  and  certainly 
may  mankind  be  taught  the  essence,  and  to  attain 
the  ultimate  object,  of  all  former  moral  and  religious 
instruction."  ^ 

To   Owen  it  seemed  that  these  principles   and  their 
-  corollaries,    when    thus   clearly    stated,  were  almost    self- 
evident.       Nevertheless    he     appeals    for    corroborative 
evidence    to    the    past   history  of  every   nation,    and    in 
particular   relates   in   some   detail   the  result   of  his  own 

1  Autobiography,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  274,  275. 
'  Ibid.,  p.  273.  3  itid.,  p.  273. 

VOL.    I.  8 


114  ROBERT   OWEN 

experiment  at  putting  these  principles  into  practice  at 
New  Lanark. 

In  the  preface  to  the  third  Essay  he  makes  an  earnest 
appeal  to  manufacturers  and  other  employers  of  labour, 
in  their  own  interests  no  less  than  those  of  the  nation 
at  large,  to  follow  his  example.  He  points  out  that 
the  difference  between  profit  and  loss  in  running  a 
manufactory  is  commonly  held  to  depend  largely  on 
the  attention  bestowed  on  the  machinery  and  the  proper 
condition  of  the  plant  :  "  If  then,"  he  continues,  "  due 
care  as  to  the  state  of  your  inanimate  machines  can 
produce  such  beneficial  results,  what  may  not  be  ex- 
pected if  you  devote  equal  attention  to  your  vital 
machines,  which  are  much  more  wonderfully  con- 
structed ? 

*'  When  you  shall  acquire  a  right  knowledge  of 
these,  of  their  curious  mechanism,  of  their  self-adjusting 
powers  ;  when  the  proper  main-spring  shall  be  applied 
to  their  varied  movements, — you  will  become  conscious 
of  their  real  value,  and  you  will  readily  be  induced  to 
turn  your  thoughts  more  frequently  from  your  inanimate 
to  your  living  machines  ;  you  will  discover  that  the 
latter  may  be  easily  trained  and  directed  to  procure  a 
large  increase  of  pecuniary  gain,  while  you  may  also 
derive   from    them   high    and   substantial   gratification. 

"  Will  you  then  continue  to  expend  large  sums  of 
money  to  procure  the  best  devised  mechanism  of  wood, 
brass,  or  iron  ;  to  retain  it  in  perfect  repair  ;  to  provide 
the  best  substance  for  the  prevention  of  unnecessary 
friction,  and  to  save  it  from  falling  into  premature 
decay  ?  Will  you  also  devote  years  of  intense  applica- 
tion   to  understand   the   connection   of  the  various   parts 


A   NEW   VIEW   OF    SOCIETY  115 

of  these  lifeless  machines,  to  improve  their  effective 
powers,  and  to  calculate  with  mathematical  precision  all 
their  minute  and  combined  movements  ?  And  when  in 
these  transactions  you  estimate  time  by  minutes,  and 
the  money  expended  for  the  chance  of  increased  gain 
by  fractions,  will  you  not  afford  some  of  your  attention 
to  consider  whether  a  portion  of  your  time  and  capital 
would  not  be  more  advantageously  applied  to  improve 
your  living  machines  ?  From  experience  which  cannot 
deceive  me,  I  venture  to  assure  you,  that  your  time 
and  money  so  applied,  if  directed  by  a  true  knowledge 
of  the  subject,  would  return  you,  not  five,  ten,  or 
fifteen  per  cent,  for  your  capital  so  expended,  but  often 
fifty,  and  in  many  cases  a  hundred  per  cent."  ^ 

But  it  is  to  Governments  rather  than  to  individuals 
that  Owen  prefers  to  make  his  appeal.  "  On  the  ex- 
perience of  a  life  devoted  to  the  subject,  I  hesitate  not 
to  say,  that  the  members  of  any  community  may  by 
degrees  be  trained  to  live  without  idleness^  without  poverty ^ 
without  crime ^  and  without  -punishment ;  for  each  of  these 
is  the  effect  of  error  in  the  various  systems  prevalent 
throughout  the  world.  They  are  all  necessary  consequences 
of  ignorance.''  " 

That  ignorance  removed,  nothing,  he  proclaimed, 
forbids  the  immediate  putting  into  effect  of  the  principles 
here  first  set  forth  in  their  entirety  to  the  world — *'  Shall 
yet  another  year  pass  in  which  crime  shall  be  forced  on 
the  infant,  who  in  ten,  twenty,  or  thirty  years  hence 
shall  suffer  DEATH  for  being  taught  that  crime  }  Surely 
it  is  impossible."  ^     If  such   delay  were  permitted,  it   is 

^  Autobiography^  Vol.  I.,  pp.  260,   261. 
2  Ibid.,  p    285,  3  ii^id^^  p,  286. 


ii6  ROBERT   OWEN 

the  makers  of  the  law,  and  others  in  high  places  who 
ouc[ht  to  suffer  the  penalty  of  the  misdeed,  rather  than 
the  untrained  or  mistrained  culprit. 

In  the  fourth  Essay,  the  sub-title  of  which  runs, 
'^  The  Principles  of  the  Former  Essays  applied  to 
Government,"  he  indicates  the  measures  which  should 
be  adopted  to  reconstruct  human  society  on  the  basis  of 
the  New  Views.  The  first  step  towards  the  introduction 
of  the  New  System  is  the  establishment  of  a  national 
scheme  of  Education.  That  education  must  be  universal; 
no  child  in  the  whole  Empire  should  be  excluded  from 
its  benefits.  It  should  be  unsectarian  ;  though  Owen 
would  welcome  the  co-operation  of  the  Church,  and  held 
indeed  that  such  co-operation  was  essential  to  the  smooth 
working  of  the  scheme,  he  deprecated  the  teaching  of 
theological  dogmas.  Lastly,  the  national  education  must 
be  a  real  education,  and  not  merely  the  teaching  by  rote 
of  the  beggarly  elements.  He  briefly  reviews  the  systems 
of  education  then  on  trial  in  the  country — those  of  Bell, 
Lancaster,  and  Whitbread — and  shows  how  far  they  fall 
short  of  the  standard  required. 

"  It  must  be  evident  to  common  observers,  that 
children  may  be  taught,  by  either  Dr.  Bell's  or  Mr. 
Lancaster's  system,  to  read,  write,  account,  and  sew,  and 
yet  acquire  the  worst  habits,  and  have  their  minds 
rendered  irrational  for  life. 

"  Reading  and  writing  are  merely  instruments  by 
which  knowledge,  either  true  or  false,  may  be  imparted  ; 
and,  when  given  to  children,  are  of  little  comparative 
value,  unless  they  are  also  taught  how  to  make  a  proper 
use  of  them.  .  ."  (p.  318).  "Enter  any  of  the  schools 
denominated   National,   and  request  the   master   to  show 


A   NEW   VIEW   OF   SOCIETY  117 

the  acquirements  of  the  children.  These  are  called  out, 
and  he  asks  them  theological  questions  to  which  men 
of  the  most  profound  erudition  cannot  make  a  rational 
reply  ;  the  children,  however,  readily  answer  as  they 
had  been  previously  instructed  ;  for  memory,  in  this 
mockery  of  learning,   is   all   that   is   required. 

**Thus  the  child  whose  natural  faculty  of  comparing 
ideas,  or  whose  rational  powers,  shall  be  the  soonest 
destroyed,  if,  at  the  same  time,  he  possess  a  memory 
to  retain  incongruities  without  connexion,  will  become 
what  is  termed  the  first  scholar  in  the  class  ;  and  three- 
fourths  of  the  time  which  ought  to  be  devoted  to  the 
acquirement  of  useful  instruction,  will  be  really  occupied 
in    destroying    the    mental    powers    of    the    children " 

(P-  319)- 

But    the    remodelling    of  our    institutions    need    not 

wait  until  the  education  of  the  rising  generation  on 
rational  principles  shall  have  been  completed.  There  is 
much  that  an  enlightened  Government  can  do  at  once 
to  improve  the  circumstances  which  hinder  and  oppress 
the  men  and  women  whose  time  for  education  is  un- 
happily almost  over.  First  a  Labour  Bureau  should  be 
established  "  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  regular  and 
accurate  information  relative  to  the  value  of  and  demand 
for  labour  over  the  United  Kingdoms"  (p.  325)  ;  and 
"  it  ought  to  be  a  primary  duty  of  any  Government  that 
-sincerely  interests  itself  in  the  well-being  of  its  subjects, 
to  provide  perpetual  employment  of  real  national  utility, 
in  which  all  who  apply  may  be  immediately  occupied  " 
(p.  329).  But  Owen  expressly  disclaims  interference 
with  private  enterprise  :  his  Labour  Bureau  is  to  provide 
employment  only  for  those  otherwise  unemployed.     Such 


ii8  ROBERT   OWEN 

employment  he  suggests  will  best  be  found  in  the 
making  and  repairing  of  the  public  highways  ;  for,  he 
points  out,  it  would  probably  be  true  national  economy 
to  keep  the  roads  in  a  much  higher  state  of  repair 
than  had  been  the  case  up  to  that  time.  Should  this 
source  of  employment  prove  insufficient,  he  suggests 
that  the  unemployed  might  be  set  to  work  to  construct 
canals,    harbours    and    docks,    and    even    to   build    ships 

(P-  3^9)- 

These  two,  National  Education  and  National  Employ- 
ment, are  the  principal  and  most  urgent  measures 
necessary  to  the  policy.  But  amongst  minor  reforms 
Owen  indicates  the  abolition  of  State  Lotteries  ;  the 
regulation  of  the  drink  traffic  in  the  interests  of  the 
Nation  ;  the  reform  and  ultimate  supersession  of  the 
Poor  Laws.  Lastly,  the  Church  must  be  purged.  The 
theological  dogmas  which  "  constitute  its  weakness  and 
create  its  danger"  must  be  "withdrawn";  all  tests 
must  be  abolished,  and  all  men  invited  again  within  the 
fold,  so  as  to  constitute  once  more  a  truly  National 
Church.  "  For  the  first  grand  step  towards  effecting 
any  substantial  improvement  in  these  realms,  without 
injury  to  any  part  of  the  community,  is  to  make  it  the 
clear  and  decided  interest  of  the  Church  to  co-operate 
cordially  in  all  the  projected  ameliorations.  Once  found 
a  National  Church  on  the  true,  unlimited,  and  genuine 
principles  of  universal  charity,  and  all  the  members  of  the 
State  will  soon  improve  in  every  truly  valuable  quality  "  ^ 
(P-   322). 

'  Arnold  Toyiibee  held  somewhat  similar  ideas  on  the  need  for 
making  the  Church  truly  national  by  abolishing  all  doctrinal  tests,  and 
securing  the  co-operation  of  clergy  and  laity.  Sre  the  memoir  prefixed 
to  tlie  Lectures  on  the  Industrial  Kevolutiun,   1884. 


A   NEW   VIEW   OF   SOCIETY  119 

In  concluding,  Owen  indicates  that  there  is  yet  one 
more  instalment  of  the  truth  to  be  revealed  when  the 
time  is  ripe.  "  All  that  is  now  requisite,  previous  to 
withdrawing  the  last  mental  bandage  by  which  hitherto 
the  human  race  has  been  kept  in  darkness  and  misery, 
is  by  calm  and  patient  reasoning  to  tranquillise  the  public 
mind,  and  thus  prevent  the  evil  effects  which  might 
otherwise  arise  from  the  too  sudden  prospect  of  freely 
enjoying  rational  liberty  of  mind  "  (p.  331). 

In  these  words  no  doubt  Owen  foreshadowed  his 
famous  denunciation  of  all  the  religions  of  the  world,  which 
took  place  at  the  *' London  Tavern"  in  August,  181 7. 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  Political  Justice 
will  recognise  a  striking  similarity,  extending  in  some 
cases  to  the  actual  phrases  employed,  between  Godwin's 
philosophical  conceptions  and  those  expounded  by  Owen 
twenty  years  later.  Godwin  had  taught  that  *'  the 
characters  of  men  originate  in  their  external  circum- 
stances "  ;  that  "  children  are  a  sort  of  raw  material 
put  into  our  hands,"  to  be  moulded  according  to  our 
wishes  ;  ^  that,  unlike  the  animals,  in  whose  idiosyncrasies 
inheritance  plays  a  large  part,  "  the  original  differences 
ofmanandman  .  .  .  may  be  said  to  be  almost  nothing  ;"  ^ 
"  there  is  for  the  most  part  no  essential  difference  be- 
tween the  child  of  the  lord  and  of  the  porter  "  :  ^  that 
the  differences  found  to  exist  in  after  life  are  due  partly 
to  the  accident  of  the  environment,  partly  to  formal 
education,  partly  to  the  educative  influence  of  the  political 
and  social  system  ;  that  man's  character  and  destiny  are 
therefore    largely    determined    by    causes    directly  under 

^  Political  Justice  y  edition  of  1798,  Vol.  I,,  p.  47. 
2  Ibid.,  p.  43.  3  Ibid.,  p.  37. 


120  ROBERT   OWEN 


human  control.  Again,  Godwin  ascribes  all  error  to 
ignorance.  '^  Remove  the  causes  of  this  ignorance  .  .  . 
and  the  effects  will  cease.  Show  me  in  the  clearest  and 
most  unambiguous  manner  that  a  certain  mode  of 
procedure  is  most  reasonable  in  itself  or  most  conducive 
to  my  interests,  and  I  shall  infallibly  pursue  that  mode."  ^ 
Again,  Godwin  had  taught  that  "  the  terms  guilt,  crime, 
desert  and  accountableness,  in  the  absolute  and  general 
sense  in  which  they  have  sometimes  been  applied, 
have  no  place.  ...  So  far  as  praise  implies  that  the 
man  could  have  abstained  from  the  virtuous  action  I 
applaud,  it  belongs  only  to  the  delusive  system  of 
liberty."^  It  then  *Wicious  propensities  "  have  for  the 
most  part  been  implanted  in  human  beings  by  "  ill-con- 
stituted Governments,"  it  would  be  absurd  to  hold  the 
individuals  responsible  ;  *'  punishment  can  at  no  time 
make  part  of  any  political  system  that  is  built  upon  the 
principles  of  reason,"  and  can  at  most  be  admitted  as  a 
measure  of  temporary  expediency.^ 

The  Political  Justice  first  appeared  in  1793,  towards 
the  beginning  of  Owen's  residence  in  Manchester.  The 
book  can  hardly  have  escaped  his  notice  ;  and,  though 
I  cannot  find  that  he  ever  mentions  it  by  name,  it 
seems  tolerably  certain  that  his  philosophical  views  were 
profoundly  influenced  by  its  teachings.  Doubtless  in 
the  twenty  years  which  elapsed  before  the  appearance 
of  the  Essays  on  the  Formation  of  Character^  Owen  had  so 
made  these  views  his  own  by  reflection  and  observation  that 
he  had  forgotten  whence  his  inspiration  may  have  been 
derived.     But  if,    as   seems    probable,    he  owed   much   to 

'  Political  Justice,  edition  of  1798,  Vol.  I.,  p.  45.         »  Ibid.,  pp.  394,  395. 
'  Ibid.,  Vol.  11.,  pp.  361-63. 


A   NEW   VIEW  OF    SOCIETY  121 

Godwin,  he  was  at  any  rate  no  servile  follower  of  that 
curiously  passionless  thinker.  On  the  constructive 
side  of  his  speculations  Owen  parted  company  with 
his  master.  Godwin  would  have  had  no  Government 
interference,  no  State  employment  of  labour,  no  national 
system  even  of  education  :  and  he  would  assuredly 
have  shuddered  at  the  idea  of  co-operation  with  the 
Church. 

But  there  are  indications  that  another  influence  than 
Godwin's  was  working  upon  Owen  at  the  time  of  the 
writing  of  the  Essays.  Owen's  subsequent  publications 
are  commonly  characterised  by  tediousness  and  monotony. 
Mr.  Holyoake  has  somewhere  illustrated  this  later  style 
by  a  felicitous  simile.  Alluding  to  the  well-known 
saying  that  Montaigne's  sentences  were  so  alive  that 
if  pricked  they  would  bleed,  he  remarks  that  if  you 
tried  to  prick  one  of  Owen's  utterances  on  the  '*  System  " 
you  would  infallibly  lose  your  needle  in  the  cotton- 
wool. But  in  these  earliest  Essays  we  find  a  certain 
crispness  and  clearness  of  style.  The  fourth  Essay  in 
particular  gives  us  much  more  than  this.  Up  to  this 
point  Owen  had  dealt  mainly  with  the  exposition  of  the 
general  principles  on  which  his  "  System  "  is  based,  and 
with  the  account  of  his  work  at  New  Lanark.  But  in 
the  last  Essay  he  presents  us  with  a  comprehensive  and 
clearly  reasoned  scheme  of  social  reconstruction.  The 
-argument  is  marked  by  studied  moderation  of  tone, 
sobriety  of  judgment,  and  considerable  insight  into 
pohtical  possibilities.  The  whole  composition  reaches 
a  higher  level  than  any  of  Owen's  other  utterances. 
The  explanation  is  probably  to  be  found  in  a  visit  which 
Owen,   prior  to  the  publication   of  the   Essays,  paid  to 


122  ROBERT   OWEN 

Francis  Place,  the  radical  tailor  of  Charing  Cross. 
Owen  sought  Place's  aid  in  correcting  the  MS.,  and 
from  internal  evidence  it  is  probable  that  Place's  hand 
helped  to  guide  the  pen,  at  any  rate  in  the  writing  of 
this  final  Essay. ^ 

Place,  writing  in  1836,  gives  a  shrewd  and  not 
unkindly  account  of  his  visitor.  Owen  "  introduced 
himself  to  me,  and  I  found  him  a  man  of  kind  manners 
and  good  intentions,  of  an  imperturbable  temper,  and 
an  enthusiastic  desire  to  promote  the  happiness  of  man- 
kind. A  few  interviews  made  us  friends.  .  .  He  told 
me  he  possessed  the  means,  and  was  resolved  to  produce 
a  great  change  in  the  manners  and  habits  of  the  whole 
of  the  people,  from  the  most  exalted  to  the  most  de- 
pressed. He  found  all  our  institutions  at  variance  with 
the  welfare  and  happiness  of  the  people,  and  had  dis- 
covered the  true  means  of  correcting  all  those  errors 
which  prevented  their  having  the  fullest  enjoyment 
possible,  and  consequently  of  being  wise  and  happy. 
His  project  was  simple,  easy  of  adoption,  and  so  plainly 
efficacious  that  it  must  be  embraced  by  every  thinking 
man  the  moment  he  was  made  to  understand  it.  He 
produced  a  manuscript,  which  he  requested  me  to  read 
and  correct  for  him.  I  went  through  it  carefully,  and 
it  was  afterwards  printed.  .  .  .  Mr.  Owen  then  was, 
and  is  still,  persuaded  that  he  was  the  first  who  had 
ever  observed  that  man  was  the  creature  of  circumstances. 
On  this  supposed  discovery  he  founded  his  system. 
Never  having  read  a  metaphysical  book,  nor  held  a 
metaphysical  conversation,  nor   having  ever  heard  of  the 

*  James  iMill  is  said  also  to  have  assisted  in  the  revision  of  the  MSS. 
(see  Holyoake's  History  0/  Cu-opv ration  (First  edition),  Vol.  1.,  p.  57). 


A  NEW   VIEW   OF   SOCIETY  123 

disputes  respecting  free-will  and  necessity,  he  had  no 
clear  conception  of  his  subject  and  his  views  were 
obscure.  Yet  he  had  all  along  been  preaching  and 
publishing  and  projecting  and  predicting  in  the  fullest 
conviction  that  he  could  command  circumstances  or  create 
them,  and  place  man  above  their  control  when  necessary. 
He  never  was  able  to  explain  these  absurd  notions,  and 
therefore  always  required  assent  to  them,  telling  those 
who  were  not  willing  to  take  his  words  on  trust  that 
it  was  their  ignorance  which  prevented  them  from 
assenting  to  these  self-evident  propositions."^ 

We  cannot  but  recognise  the  essential  justice  and 
sanity,  within  its  limits,  of  Place's  criticism,  even  whilst 
we  feel  that  it  fails  to  mete  out  full  justice  to  Owen's 
character,  and  to  recognise  one  supreme  quality  in  which 
the  critic,  more  nearly  perhaps  than  any  other  man 
then  living,  resembled  the  man  upon  whom  he  passed 
judgment.  Born  in  the  same  year,  trained  in  the  same 
stern  school — though  Owen's  education  there  lacked  the 
completeness  which  years  of  adversity  had  given  to 
Place's  character — inheritors,  even  though  one  of  them 
never  realised  his  debt,  of  the  same  great  traditions, 
political,  religious,  and  philosophic,  Francis  Place  and 
Robert  Owen  alike  excelled  by  reason  of  their  untiring 
faith  in  the  possibilities  of  human  progress.  This  faith 
was  the  motive-power  of  both  lives  until  the  end.  But 
m  Place  it  was  guided  and  subordinated  by  an  intellect 
of  rare  quality,  which  was  quick  to  see  and  resolute 
to  use  the  small  occasions  which  presented  themselves 
from  day  to  day  for  building  up  the  gradual   edifice  of 

'  From   the   Place   MSS.    in   the    British   Museum,   27,  791   (264-68), 
quoted  in  the  Life  of  Francis  Place,  by  Graham  Wallas,  pp.  63,  64. 


124  ROBERT    OWEN 

national  treedom.  With  Owen  that  faith  burned  crenerous 
and  uncontrollable  as  the  sun,  and  like  the  sun,  most 
ot  its  light  and  heat  might  seem  to  have  run  to  waste. 
If  the  realised  achievements  of  the  one  man  are  weighed 
against  those  of  the  other,  the  higher  rank  would  perhaps 
be  assigned  to  Francis  Place.  But  perhaps  the  other's 
claim  to  our  remembrance  lies  less  in  the  things  which 
he  did — substantial  though  his  achievements  were — than  in 
the  hopes  which  he  inspired,  the  faith  which  his  example 
kept  alive.  For  the  sun  of  that  faith  was  never  shorn 
of  a  single  ray,  nor  suffered  even  a  momentary  eclipse. 
When  he  published  his  New  View  of  Society^  he 
looked  for  the  regeneration  of  the  world  to  begin  on 
the  morrow  :  throughout  his  long  life  that  high  vision, 
ever  receding  as  he  advanced,  was  still  before  his  eyes  : 
and  he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven  happy  in  the 
belief  that  the  millennium  was  even  then  knocking  at 
the  door. 

The  publication  of  the  first  two  Essays,  together  with 
the  growing  fame  of  his  work  at  New  Lanark,  brought 
Owen's  name  prominently  before  the  public,  and  was 
the  means  of  introducing  him  to  many  of  the  leading 
men  of  the  day.  He  had  an  interview  with  Lord 
Liverpool,  the  Prime  Minister,  who  introduced  him  to 
Lady  Liverpool,  that  she  might  express  to  Owen  her 
warm  approval  of  the  Essays.  Lord  Sidmouth,  then 
Home  Secretary,  not  content  with  expressing  his  own 
sympathy,  undertook  to  circulate  the  privately  printed 
edition  containing  the  two  later  Essays  amongst  the 
Governments  and  learned  bodies  of  Europe  and  America. 
The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  (Sutton)  invited  him 
to    Lambeth     that    Owen    miirht    read    to    him    the    two 


A   NEW   VIEW   OF   SOCIETY  125 

later  Essays  whilst  still  in  MS.,  and  afterwards,  Owen 
tells  us,  expressed  a  desire  to  correspond  with  their  author, 
that  he  might  hear  more  of  the  subject.  Amongst  his 
other  acquaintances  of  this  time  were  the  Archbishop 
of  Armagh,  several  bishops,  Clarkson,  WiJberforce, 
Zachary  Macaulay,  Sir  Thomas  Bernard  and  other 
philanthropists,  Malthus,  James  Mill,  Ricardo,  Sir  James 
Mackintosh,  Colonel  Torrens,  Place,  and  Godwin.  A 
copy  of  the  Essays  even  reached  Napoleon  in  his  retire- 
ment at  Elba,  and  Owen  expresses  his  belief  that  the 
destinies  of  Europe  might  have  been  changed  if  the  Allied 
Sovereigns  had  allowed  the  Exile  to  return  peaceably 
to  his  throne,  and  thence  carry  into  effect  the  good 
resolutions  with  which  the  New  View  of  Society  had 
inspired  him. 

Owen's  account  of  all  these  interviews  and  transactions 
was  written  in  extreme  old  age,  and  details  with  the 
na'ive  vanity  of  second  childhood  the  gracious  speeches 
and  compliments  made  to  him  by  these  eminent  person- 
ages. It  is  difficult  to  take  his  account  of  the  matter 
quite  seriously,  or  to  suppose  that  either  the  Archbishop 
or  the  Home  Secretary  set  so  high  a  value  on  these 
revelations  and  proposals  for  social  reconstruction  as 
Owen  would  have  us  believe.  But  apart  altogether  from 
natural  courtesy,  it  is  probable  that  Owen's  unaffected 
sincerity,  the  goodwill  to  all  mankind  which  radiated  from 
.  him,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  great  things  which  he 
had  already  done  at  New  Lanark,  drew  men  towards 
him,  and  made  them  welcome  one  who  must  have  proved 
merely  a  colossal  bore  if  he  had  not  been,  as  Leslie 
Stephen  has  finely  said,  of  the  very  salt  of  the  earth. 


CHAPTER    VII 

THE    NEW   LANARK   SCHOOLS 

FROM  what  has  been  said  in  the  last  chapter  it 
will  appear  that  it  would  be  unprofitable  to  enquire 
too  closely  how  far  originality  can  be  claimed  for  Owen's 
system  of  education.  Ultimately,  no  doubt,  like  all 
other  educational  reformers  since  the  French  Revolution, 
he  derived  his  inspiration  from  Rousseau,  or  from  the 
movement  of  thought  of  which  Rousseau  is  the  most 
conspicuous  embodiment.  The  general  similarity  of  his 
ideas  with  those  of  Rousseau  and  of  Rousseau's  most 
prominent  disciple,  Pestalozzi,  leave  no  room  for  doubt 
on  this  point.  But  the  debt  on  Owen's  part  was  probably 
unrecognised.  There  is  no  allusion  to  Rousseau  in 
any  of  his  writings  ;  he  no  doubt  drank  in  the  Genevan 
prophet's  ideas  at  second-hand,  and  was  ignorant  even 
at  the  time  of  their  source.  Of  Pestalozzi  he  does  not 
seem  to  have  heard  until  he  went,  in  1818,  to  the 
Continent  in  company  with  Professor  Pictet,  and  there 
visited  the  schools  of  Oberlin  at  Fribourg,  of  Fellenbcrg 
at  Hofwyl,  and  of  Pestalozzi  himself  at  Yvcrdun.  Owen 
warmly  approved  ''  the  truly  catholic  spirit "  in  which 
Oberlin  conducted  his  school  for  the  children  of  the 
poor.  But  he  seems  to  have  taken  much  pains  to 
demonstrate  to  the  good  Father  the  imperative  necessity 

xa6 


^i^'SLIC  LIBRARY 


A'lUM.  LENOX  AND 
Ui-ytiN    fOUNDATlUNS 


THE   NEW   LANARK   SCHOOLS  127 

of  taking  children  whilst  still  in  their  earliest  years,  for, 
said  he,  "  to  a  great  extent  the  character  is  made  or 
marred  before  children  enter  the  usual  schoolroom."  ^ 
Owen  was  obviously  unaware  when,  in  his  extreme  old 
age,  he  wrote  his  account  of  this  visit  to  Fribourg, 
that  Oberlin  had  anticipated  him  by  some  forty  years 
in  founding  infant  schools.  In  the  early  years  of  his 
pastorate  in  the  Ban  de  la  Roche,  Oberlin  had  established 
such  a  school,  with  young  women  to  act  as  conductrices. 
The  children  were  taken  at  a  quite  tender  age,  when 
too  young  for  formal  lessons,  were  made  to  sit  on  forms, 
and  taught  to  knit,  spin,  and  sew,  or  to  look  at  pictures 
of  sacred  subjects.  They  were  especially — a  significant 
foreshadowing  of  one  of  Owen's  favourite  devices — 
taught  to  interest  themselves  in  maps,  amongst  them  a 
large  scale-map  of  the  Ban  de  la  Roche,  in  which  each 
child  learnt  to  find  its  father's  house.  The  children 
were  further  taught  to  recite  short  lessons  after  the 
teachers.^ 

With  Fellenberg's  establishment,  which  they  next 
visited  in  the  course  of  this  tour,  Owen  was  so  pleased 
that  a  few  months  later  he  sent  his  two  elder  boys, 
Robert  Dale  and  William,  to  be  educated  there.  But 
the  impression  produced  by  the  Yverdun  School  was 
not  so  favourable.  Here  is  his  own  account  of  the 
visit  : 
-  "  Our  next  visit  was  to  Yverdun,  to  see  the  advance 
made  by  Pestalozzi — another  good  and  benevolent  man, 
acting  for  the  benefit  of  his  poor  children  to  the  extent 
of  his   knowledge  and  means.     He  was  doing,  he  said, 

'  Au/obiog?uphy,  Vol.  I.,  p.  175. 

2    Vie  d'Obej'Hn  (Paris,  1845),  P-  i'?- 


128  ROBERT   OWEN 

all   he   could   to   cultivate   the   heart,    the   head,    and    the 
hands    of   his    pupils.       His    theory    was    good,    but   his 
means  and  experience  were  very  limited,  and  his  principles 
were    those    of  the    old    system.      His    language    was    a 
confused   patois,  which    Professor    Pictet   could   but    im- 
perfectly    understand.       His     goodness     of    heart     and 
benevolence   of  intention   were  evident   in   what   he    had 
done  under  the  disadvantages  which   he  had  to  encounter. 
His  school,  however,  was  one  step  in  advance  of  ordinary 
schools,    or    the    old    routine    schools     for    the    poor    in 
common   society,   and  we  were  pleased  with   it  as  being 
this  one  step  in  advance,  for  the  rudiments  of  common 
school  education  for  the  poor,  without  attention  to  their 
dispositions  and  habits,  and  without  teaching  them  useful 
occupation,  by  which  to  earn  a  living,  are  of  little  real 
utility.      We    left    him,    being    much    pleased    with    the 
honest  homely  simplicity  of  the  old  man.      His  one  step 
beyond  the  usual  routine  had  attracted  and  was  attracting 
the   attention  of  many  who  had  previously  known  only 
the  common  routine." 

Pestalozzi  throughout  his  life  had  been  hampered  by 
narrow  means  and  by  his  own  lack  of  organising  power, 
and  Owen's  visit  came  just  at  the  darkest  hour  for 
the  old  man.  The  Institute  at  Yverdun  was  then  in 
great  financial  straits ;  owing  to  jealousies  among  the 
staff,  the  majority  of  Pestalozzi's  disciples  and  colleagues 
and  a  large  number  of  pupils  had  already  left  the 
school,  or  were  about  to  leave  ;  and  Pestalozzi  himself 
was  almost  in  despair.  Owen's  unfavourable  impression 
was  therefore,  no  doubt,  superficially  justified.  Never- 
theless it  is  probable  that  he  derived  some  useful 
ideas   from    the    visit.      And    indeed  the   germs  of  many 


THE    NEW   LANARK   SCHOOLS  129 

of  Owen's  ideas  on  education  were  no  doubt  derived 
from  his  tour  in  1818.  A  hostile  witness  already 
quoted,  the  Rev.  John  Aiton,  says,  *'  His  mode  of 
education  is  a  jumble  of  Dr.  Bell's  and  Mr.  Lancaster's 
with  hints  from  M.  Fellenberg,  Pere  Girard,  Pestalozzi 
and  others."^  Owen  himself  in  181 6 — shortly  before 
the  Continental  tour  just  described — was  not  disposed 
to  claim  originality  for  his  ideas.  In  the  evidence  before 
the  Factory  Committee  he  is  content  to  describe  his 
educational  system  as  "  a  combination  of  what  appears 
to  me  the  best  parts  of  the  National  and  Lancasterian 
systems,  with  some  little  additions  which  have  suggested 
themselves."  ^  But  in  this  matter  Owen  appears  to 
have  "  builded  wiser  than  he  knew."  He  can  have 
owed  but  little  to  either  Bell  or  Lancaster.  He  dis- 
trusted the  system  of  teaching  by  rote,  and  he  regarded 
it  as  essential  that  the  children  should  have  more  of 
the  individual  attention  of  the  master  than  was  possible 
under  the  monitorial  system.^  Owen's  educational  ideas 
were  certainly  far  in  advance  of  his  contemporaries  in 
these  islands,  and  his  enterprise  at  New  Lanark  deserves 
to  be  commemorated  as  furnishing  a  model  in  some 
respects  too  far  in  advance  of  the  time  to  be  generally 
adopted  even  now. 

It  was  not,  however,  until  18 16 — the  year  which 
saw  the  beginning  of  Froebel's  work  at  Griesheim  and 
.Brougham's  Select  Committee  on  Education  in  this 
country — that   Owen   was  able    to    carrry   out    his    ideas 

^  A  Refutation  of  Mr.  Owens  System^  p.  ii. 

'  See  his  evidence  {Report,  p.  26).  See  also  the  fuller  statement  of 
his  system  given  by  him  before  Lord  Brougham's  Committee  of  the  same 
year  (p.  238). 

'  See  his  evidence  before  Lord  Brougham's  Committee  (pp.  238  242). 

VOL.    I.  9 


I30  ROBERT   OWEN 

on  a  liberal  scale.  Up  till  1813  all  his  schemes  for 
the  improvement  of  the  people  at  New  Lanark  had  to 
be  adjusted  to  meet  the  views  of  partners  who  were 
mainly  intent  on  money-getting.  Nevertheless  he  had, 
as  already  stated,  succeeded  prior  to  the  dissolution  of 
partnership  in  erecting,  at  a  cost  ot  ^^3,000,  a  building 
of  three  storeys,  which  was  to  serve  amongst  other 
purposes  for  schools  and  lectures.  After  1813,  with 
the  cordial  goodwill  and  assistance  of  his  Quaker 
partners,  Owen  set  to  work  to  put  up  a  new  building 
to  be  used  exclusively  for  school  classes,  lectures, 
concerts  and  recreation  generally.  The  building  was 
formally  opened  on  January  i,  18 16.  In  an  address  of 
considerable  length,  mercifully  broken  by  a  brief  musical 
interlude,  Owen  expounded  the  views  already  set  forth 
in  his  Essays  on  the  Formation  of  Character,  dwelling 
especially  on  the  importance  of  right  education  from 
the  earliest  years  as  a  means  to  the  regeneration  ot 
mankind.  "What  ideas,"  he  said,  "individuals  may 
attach  to  the  term  Millennium,  I  know  not  ;  but  I 
know  that  society  may  be  formed  so  as  to  exist  with- 
out crime,  without  poverty,  with  health  greatly  im- 
proved, with  little,  if  any,  misery,  and  with  intelligence 
and  happiness  increased  a  hundred-fold  ;  and  no  obstacle 
whatsoever  intervenes  at  this  moment,  except  ignorance, 
to  prevent  such  a  state  of  society  from  becoming 
universal."  ^ 

The    Institution    tor    the   Formation    of   Character    is 

still   standing  ;    it   is  the  only  one  of  the  mill   buildings 

on    the   hither    side    of  the    lade    which   brings   the  water 

from   the    river    to    work   the   mills.      It   is  a   building  ot 

'  Autobiography,  Vol.  I.,  p.  349. 


THE   NEW   LANARK   SCHOOLS  131 

two  storeys  ;  the  lower  storey  is  at  the  present  time 
used  as  kitchens  and  dining-room  for  the  mill-hands, 
and  one  room  on  the  upper  floor  is  fitted  up  as  a 
concert  hall  and  lecture-room.  Until  the  establishment 
of  Board  Schools  in  Scotland,  the  building  continued  to 
be  used  as  a  school  for  the  children  of  those  working 
in  the  mills. 

The  upper  floor,  in  Owen's  time,  was  divided  into 
two  rooms,  one  about  ninety  and  the  other  between  forty 
and  fifty  feet  long.  The  breadth  is  about  forty  ^  and  the 
height  twenty  feet.  To  quote  Robert  Dale  Owen's 
description,  written  in   1824  : 

"  The  principal  school-room  is  fitted  up  with  desks 
and  forms,  on  the  Lancasterian  plan,  having  a  free 
passage  down  the  centre  of  the  room.  It  is  surrounded, 
except  at  one  end,  where  a  pulpit  stands,  with  galleries, 
which  are  convenient  when  this  room  is  used,  as  it 
frequently  is,  either  as  a  lecture-room  or  place  of 
worship. 

"  The  other  and  smaller  apartment  on  the  second 
floor  has  the  walls  hung  round  with  representations  of 
the  most  striking  zoological  and  mineralogical  specimens, 
including  quadrupeds,  birds,  fishes,  reptiles,  insects, 
shells,  minerals,  etc.  At  one  end  there  is  a  gallery, 
adapted  for  the  purpose  of  an  orchestra,  and  at  the 
other  end  are  hung  very  large  representations  of  the  two 
-hemispheres ;  each  separate  country,  as  well  as  the 
various  seas,  islands,  etc.,  being  difl^erently  coloured, 
but  without  any  names  attached  to  them.  This  room 
is  used  as  a  lecture-  and  ball-room,  and  it   is  here  that 

^  According  to  Robert  Dale  Owen  {Educatio7i  at  New  Lanark^  p.  28) 
my  own  measurements  make  it  nearly  forty-five. 


13' 


ROBERT    OWEN 


the  dancing  and  singing  lessons  are  daily  given.  It 
is  likewise  occasionally  used  as  a  reading-room  for  some 
of  the  classes. 

''  The  lower  storey  is  divided  into  three  apartments, 
of  nearly  equal  dimensions,  twelve  feet  high,  and  sup- 
ported by  hollow  iron  pillars,  serving  at  the  same  time 
as  conductors  in  winter  for  heated  air,  which  issues 
through  the  floor  of  the  upper  storey,  and  by  which 
means  the  whole  building  may,  with  care,  be  kept  at 
any  required  temperature.  It  is  in  these  three  apart- 
ments that  the  younger  classes  are  taught  reading, 
natural   history,  and  geography." 

The  whole  of  the  building  was  opened  in  the 
evenings  for  the  use  of  children  and  adults  who  had 
been  working  in  the  mills  during  the  day  ;  further, 
there  were  in  the  evenings  periodical  singing  and  dancing 
classes,   lectures,  etc. 

The  clearest  account  of  the  system  of  infant 
education  pursued  at  New  Lanark  is  given  by  Owen 
himself. 

The  Infant  School  was,  he  tells  us,  opened  on 
January  2,  1816.  ^  All  children  above  a  year  old* 
were,  if  the  parents  were  willing,  to  be  sent  to  the 
school.  Owen  himself  during  the  first  few  months  of 
its  establishment  was  constantly  in  the  schools,  and  took 
pains  to  win  the  confidence  and  affection  of  all  the 
children.  The  selection  of  teachers  for  the  infants  had 
exercised  him  much  ;  he  felt  it  would  be  worse  than 
useless  to  take  persons  whose    only    ideas    of  education 

*  Xew  Kxi^itencCy  Part  V.,  p.  liii. 

'  In  practice  it  would  seem   from  occasional  rcl'crences  that  a  some- 
what  hi;'hcr   limit   was  obscrvcil. 


1 

4  m 

'Ill      1 

Jj^l 

,,  Ti    1 

\  :E  :.ii"W  Yua^       ^ 
rUELIC  LI3"ARY 


AflOH,  I-tNOX    AND 

.i.Ui_N    i:uU:;  UAI  IONS 

H  L 


THE   NEW   LANARK   SCHOOLS  133 

were  concerned  with  books.  He  needed  those  who 
loved  children  and  would  have  unlimited  patience  with 
them,  and  who  would  moreover  be  willing  unre- 
servedly to  follow  Owen's  instructions  as  regards  the 
things  to  be  taught  and  the  methods  of  teaching.  His 
choice  finally  fell  upon  one  James  Buchanan,  a  simple- 
hearted  weaver,  who  is  happily  described  as  having  been 
"  previously  trained  by  his  wife  to  perfect  submission 
to  her  will."  With  him  was  joined  a  young  woman  of 
seventeen,  named  Molly  Young.  Owen  found  in  these 
persons  sufficiently  pliant  instruments  of  his  designs. 
His  first  instruction  to  them  was  never  on  any  provoca- 
tion to  use  harsh  words  or  actions  to  the  children. 
Further,  whilst  showing  in  themselves  an  example  of 
uniform  kindness,  they  were  to  endeavour  by  every 
means  in  their  power  to  inculcate  a  like  spirit  of  loving 
kindness  in  the  children  in  all  their  dealings  with  each 
other. 

''The  children,"  he  proceeds,  "were  not  to  be 
annoyed  with  books  ;  but  were  to  be  taught  the  uses 
and  nature  or  qualities  of  the  common  things  around 
them,  by  familiar  conversation  when  the  children's 
curiosity  was  excited  so  as  to  induce  them  to  ask  ques- 
tions respecting  them.  .  .  .  The  schoolroom  for  the 
infants'  instruction  was  .  .  .  furnished  with  paintings, 
chiefly  of  animals,  with  maps,  and  often  supplied  with 
natural  objects  from  the  gardens,  fields,  and  woods, — 
the  examination  and  explanation  of  which  always 
excited  their  curiosity  and  created  an  animated  conver- 
sation between  the  children  and  their  instructors,  now 
themselves  acquiring  new  knowledge  by  attempting 
to    instruct    their    young    friends,    as    I     always    taught 


134  ROBERT    OWEN 

them  to  think  their  pupils  were,  and  to  treat  them 
as  such. 

"  The  children  at  four  and  above  that  age  showed 
an  eager  desire  to  understand  the  use  of  the  maps 
of  the  four  quarters  of  the  world  upon  a  large  scale 
purposely  hung  in  the  room  to  attract  their  attention. 
Buchanan,  their  master,  was  first  taught  their  use,  and 
then  how  to  instruct  the  children  for  their  amusement 
— for  with  these  infants  everything  was  made  to  be 
amusement. 

**  It  was  most  encouraging  and  delightful  to  see  the 
progress  which  these  infants  and  children  made  in  real 
knowledge,  without  the  use  of  books.  And  when  the 
best  means  of  instruction  or  forming  character  shall  be 
known,  I  doubt  whether  books  will  be  ever  used  before 
children  attain  their  tenth  year.  And  yet  without  books 
they  will  have  a  superior  character  formed  for  them 
at  ten. 

"  After  some  short  time,"  he  proceeds,  the  infants 
subjected  to  this  training,  "were  unlike  all  children  of 
such  situated  parents,  and  indeed  unlike  the  children  of 
any  class  in  society.  Those  at  two  years  of  age  and 
above  had  commenced  dancing  lessons,  and  those  of 
four  years  of  age  and  upwards  singing  lessons — both 
under  a  good  teacher.  Both  sexes  were  also  drilled, 
and  became  efficient  in  the  military  exercises,  being 
formed  into  divisions,  led  by  young  drummers  and 
fifers,  and  they  became  very  expert  and  perfect  in  these 
exercises."  ^ 

Of  the  general  principles  on  which  the  scheme  of 
education  was  founded,  and  of  the   methods  employed  in 

'  Autobiography^  \'ol  I.,  pj).  140,   141. 


THE   NEW   LANARK   SCHOOLS  135 

the  teaching  of  the  older  children — from  about  five  to 
ten  or  twelve — a  clear  account  is  given  by  Robert  Dale 
Owen  in  his  Outlines  of  the  System  of  Education  at  New 
Lanark^  published  at  Glasgow  in  1824.  The  system 
had  then  been  at  work  for  upwards  of  eight  years — long 
enough  to  enable  the  results  to  be  seen  and  weighed.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  children  were  only  in  school  for  some 
five  hours  a  day  and  were  subject  in  family  life  "  to  the 
counteracting  influence  of  an  association  with  persons 
who  had  not  received  similar  education."  Moreover  the 
parents,  though  they  were  at  liberty  to  leave  their 
children  at  school  until  twelve  years  of  age,  generally 
withdrew  them  at  ten,  to  send  them  into  the  mills. 
Even  after  they  had  begun  full  work  in  the  mills,  how- 
ever, the  children  were  at  liberty  to  attend  the  evening 
schools,  and  most  of  them  seem  to  have  availed  them- 
selves of  the  privileges  offered.  The  education,  it  should 
be  noted,  was  practically  free,  the  parents  being  required 
to  contribute  only  3^.  a  month  for  each  child — a  sum 
insufficient,  it  may  be  surmised,  to  pay  for  the  con- 
sumption of  books,  ink,  and  paper.^ 

Prior  to  the  shortening  of  the  hours  of  work,  the 
average  attendance  at  the  evening  schools  was  less  than 
one  hundred  a  night.  But  after  the  reduction  on 
January  i,  1816,  from  eleven  and  three-quarters  to 
ten  and  three-quarter  hours  a  day,  the  attendance  rose 
rapidly.  The  average  was  380  a  night  in  January,  1816, 
386    in   February,    and    396  in  March.     The  following 

^  The  actual  cost  of  the  schools  in  1816  was  ^700  a  year,  viz. 
£SS^  for  salaries  of  a  Head  Master  and  ten  assistants,  and  ^150 
for  lighting,  heating,  and  materials.  (Evidence  given  before  Lord 
Brougham's  Committee,  p.  241.)  But  this  does  not  include  rent  and 
maintenance. 


136 


ROBERT   OWEN 


table    gives     the    distribution     of    the    scholars    by    age 
and  sex  : 


Boys 

Girls      ... 

Front  the  General  Register. 

Preparatory  class. 

Reading,  writing, 
.  arithmetic,  music, 
dancing,  and  mili- 
tary exercises. 

Preparator>'  class. 

•\ 

Reading,   writing, 
arithmetic,      sew- 
ing, dancing,  and 
music. 

Average       attend- 
ance, 622  daily.' 

AGE. 

DAY. 

EVENING 

TOTAL. 

3-6 

6-10 

10-15 
15-20 
20-25 

3-6 
6-10 

10-15 
15-20 
20-25 

41 
104 

145 

174 
129 

311 

39 
90 

124 

49 

... 

220 

39 

274 

485 

759 

The  general  principle  underlying  the  whole  of  the 
New  Lanark  system  was  the  exclusion  of  all  artificial 
rewards  or  punishments.  Owen  held  that  such  artificial 
incentives  to  action  are  harmful  as  disguising  the  opera- 
tion of  natural  and  social  laws,  substituting  false  ideals 
and  erroneous  notions  of  the  world,  and  generally  leaving 
the  character  weak  and  unstable  when  the  artificial 
system  ceases  to  operate.  There  were  at  New  Lanark 
no  prizes  for  industry  or  good  conduct  ;  no  child  was 
punished  for  idleness  or  disobedience.  The  scholars  were 
taught  to  find  the  best  incentive  to  industry  in  the 
pleasure  of  learning,  and  in  the  spirit  of  innocent 
emulation  which  springs  naturally  when  children  are 
learning    in     company  ;     amiability     and     good    conduct 

*   Keport  ol   Factory  Committee  of  1816,  pp.  40,  66,  91,  92. 


THE   NEW   EANARK    SCHOOLS  137 

brought  their  own  reward  in  the  friendly  feeling  which 
they  called  forth  in  response  both  from  teachers  and 
fellow-pupils  ;  and  where  everything  was  done  in  kind- 
ness, and  all  restraints  were  known  to  be  reasonable, 
and  most  were  imposed  in  the  interests  of  the  children 
themselves,  there  was  little  temptation  to  disobedience. 
Such  at  any  rate  was  the  theory  on  which  the  schools 
were  governed  ;  and  by  the  general  testimony  of  those 
who  saw  the  system  in  action,  children  so  amiable  and 
gentle  were  never  seen  before. 

As  regards  the  formal  work  of  education,  the  object 
aimed  at  was  to  make  every  subject  as  attractive  as 
possible  ;  to  teach  as  much  as  possible  by  conversation 
and  by  maps,  pictures,  and  natural  objects  ;  and  never 
to  allow  the  attention  to  become  wearied.  With  that 
end  no  lesson  was  allowed  to  exceed  three-quarters  of  an 
hour  in  duration. 

In  deference  to  the  wishes  of  the  parents,  the  children 
began  to  learn  reading  at  a  very  early  age.  Owen,  in 
this  following  Rousseau,  would  have  wished  to  defer 
such  instruction  until  the  children  should  have  learnt 
to  value  the  artificial  signs  of  written  language  not  for 
themselves,  but  as  a  means  of  wider  knowledge.  A  great 
difficulty  was  to  find  books  suited  for  the  youthful 
readers.  Miss  Edgeworth's  tales  were  judged  to  be 
among  the  best  ;  ''  but  even  those  contain  too  much 
of  praise  and  blame  to  admit  of  their  being  regarded  as 
unexceptionable."  Much  use  was  made,  too,  of  voyages 
and  travels.  These  were  illustrated  by  maps  and  inter- 
spersed with  anecdotes,  and  the  children  were  questioned 
on  what  they  read,  and  were  thus  taught  in  all  cases 
to  look  on   the  art  of  reading  as    a  means  to   an  end, 


138  ROBERT   OWEN 

rather  than  as  an  end  in  itself.  In  deference,  again,  to 
the  wishes  of  the  parents,  and  of  Owen's  partners,  the 
children  at  an  early  age  were  taught  to  read  the  Bible 
and  the  Catechism  of  the  Scotch  Church. 

In  writing,  the  same  general  principles  were  observed. 
The  children  as  soon  as  possible  deserted  copies  for 
current  handwriting  ;  and  the  sentences  written  were 
made  wherever  practicable  to  have  some  reference  to  their 
other  studies,   so  as  to  retain  their  interest. 

Arithmetic  was  at  the  outset  taught  on  the  plan 
generally  adopted  at  that  time  in  Scotland  ;  but  later, 
Dale  Owen  tells  us,  Pestalozzi's  system  of  mental  arith- 
metic was  introduced.^ 

But  the  characteristic  feature  of  the  system  of  educa- 
tion at  New  Lanark  was  the  lecture  on  natural  science, 
geography  or  history.  The  class  attending  these 
lectures  would  consist  of  forty  or  fifty  children.  The 
lecture  would  be  illustrated,  as  far  as  the  subject  would 
admit,  by  maps,  pictures,  diagrams,  etc.,  and  occasionally 
adorned  by  moral  lessons.  The  lecture  would  be  short, 
so  as  not  to  weary  the  attention  of  the  youthful  audience; 
and  the  children  would  be  questioned  by  the  lecturer,  and 
would  be  encouraged  themselves  to  ask  questions  in  turn. 

In  this  manner  the  study  of  geography,  to  many  of 

'  Pestalozzi's  system  was  founded  on  sense-impression.  The  cliild 
learnt  the  elementary  processes  of  arithmetic  from  a  Table  of  Units,  in 
which  each  unit  was  re[)restmted  by  a  line.  He  was  thus  enabled  to  see 
the  results  of  addition,  subtraction,  etc.  In  the  same  way  he  learnt  to 
understand  fractions  by  studying  tables  of  squares,  in  which  the  squares 
were  divided  into  two,  three,  or  more  equal  parts.  Their  knowledge  of 
figures  being  thus  firmly  based  upon  concrete  sense-impressions, 
I'estalozzi's  pupils  are  said  to  have  attained  extraordinary  facility  in 
mental  arithmetic  (see  De  Guimps's  Life  of  Pestalozzi^  translated  by 
John  Russell,   1890,  pp.  230,  413,  etc.). 


THE    NEW   LANARK    SCHOOLS  139 

the  less  favoured  children  of  a  later  day  the  dreariest 
remembrance  of  their  childhood,  was  made  interesting 
and  attractive  by  frequent  reference  to  the  large  coloured 
maps  hung  on  the  walls,  by  descriptions  of  the  natural 
scenery  and  climatic  conditions  of  each  region,  of  the 
inhabitants  and  their  appearance,  their  dress,  manners 
and  customs,  and  mode  of  life.  But  the  study  of 
geography  was  also  made  to  point  with  peculiar  emphasis 
a  valuable  moral  lesson.     For — 

''  In  this  manner  are  circumstances  which  induce 
national  peculiarities  and  national  vices  exhibited  to 
them  ;  and  the  question  will  naturally  arise  in  their 
minds  :  *  Is  it  not  highly  probable  that  we  ourselves, 
had  we  lived  in  such  a  country,  should  have  escaped 
neither  its  peculiarities,  nor  its  vices — that  we  should 
have  adopted  the  notions  and  prejudices  there  prevalent  ? 
In  fact  is  it  not  evident  that  we  might  have  been 
cannibals  or  Hindoos,  just  as  the  circumstances  of  our 
birth  should  have  placed  us  in  Hindostan,  where  the 
killing  of  an  animal  becomes  a  heinous  crime  ;  or  amongst 
some  savage  tribe  where  to  torture  a  fellow  creature, 
and  to  feast  on  his  dead  body,  is  accounted  a  glorious 
action  ? '  A  child  who  has  once  felt  what  the  true 
answer  to  such  a  question  must  be,  cannot  remain  un- 
charitable or  intolerant."  ^ 

It  was  perhaps  because  of  the  moral  significance  thus 
made  to  attach  to  it,  that  the  study  of  geography  formed 
so  prominent  a  part  of  the  education  at  New  Lanark, 
especially  with  the  younger  children.  Here  is  Robert 
Owen's  account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  study  was 
pursued. 

^  Outlines  of  Educatioji  at  New  Lanark^  p.  48. 


I40  ROBERT    OWEN 

*'  Their  lessons  in  geography  were  no  less  amusing 
to  the  children  themselves  and  interesting  to  strangers. 
At  a  very  early  age  they  were  instructed  in  classes  on 
maps  of  the  four  quarters  of  the  world,  and  after 
becoming  expert  in  a  knowledge  of  these,  all  the  classes 
were  united  in  one  large  class-  and  lecture-room,  to  go 
through  these  exercises  on  a  map  of  the  world  so  large 
as  almost  to  cover  the  end  of  the  room.  On  this  map 
were  delineated  the  usual  divisions  of  the  best  maps, 
except  that  there  were  no  names  of  countries  or  cities 
or  towns  ;  but  for  the  cities  and  towns  were  small  but 
distinct  circles  to  denote  their  places — the  classes  united 
for  this  purpose  generally  consisted  of  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty,  forming  as  large  a  circle  as  could  be  placed 
to  see  the  map.  A  light  white  wand  was  provided, 
sufficiently  long  to  point  to  the  highest  part  of  the 
map  by  the  youngest  child.  The  lesson  commenced  by 
one  of  the  children  taking  the  wand  to  point  with.  Then 
one  of  them  would  ask  him  to  point  to  such  a  district, 
place,  island,  city,  or  town.  This  would  be  done  gener- 
ally many  times  in  succession  ;  but  when  the  holder 
of  the  wand  was  at  fault,  and  could  not  point  to  the 
place  asked  for,  he  had  to  resign  the  wand  to  his 
questioner,  who  had  to  go  through  the  same  process. 
This  by  degrees  became  most  amusing  to  the  children, 
who  soon  learned  to  ask  for  the  least-thought-of  districts 
and  places  that  they  might  puzzle  the  holder  of  the 
wand,  and  obtain  it  from  him.  This  was  at  once  a  good 
lesson  for  one  hundred  and  fifty — keeping  the  attention 
of  all  alive  during  the  lesson.  The  lookers-on  were 
as  much  amused,  and  many  as  much  instructed  as  the 
children,  who  thus  at  an   early  age    became  so   efficient, 


THE   NEW   LANARK    SCHOOLS  141 

that  one  of  our  Admirals,  who  had  sailed  round  the 
world,  said  he  could  not  answer  many  of  the  questions 
which  some  of  these  children  not  six  years  old  readily 
replied  to,  giving  the  places  most  correctly."  ^ 

Even  in  the  study  of  history,  ancient  and  modern, 
the  same  method  was  pursued,  and  the  eye  was  called 
upon  to  aid  the  ear.  *'  Seven  large  maps  or  tables,  laid 
out  on  the  principle  of  the  Stream  of  Time,  and  which 
were  originally  purchased  from  Miss  Whitwell,  a  lady 
who  formerly  conducted  a  respectable  seminary  in  London, 
are  hung  round  the  spacious  room.  These  being  made 
of  canvass,  may  be  rolled  up  at  pleasure.  On  the  Streams, 
each  of  which  is  differently  coloured,  and  represents  a 
nation,  are  painted  the  principal  events  which  occur  in 
the  history  of  those  nations.  Each  century  is  closed  by 
a  horizontal  line,  drawn  across  the  map.  By  means  of 
these  maps,  the  children  are  taught  the  outlines  of  Ancient 
and  Modern  History,  with  ease  to  themselves,  and 
without  being  liable  to  confound  different  events,  or 
different  nations.  On  hearing  of  any  two  events,  for 
instance,  the  child  has  but  to  recollect  the  situation 
on  the  tables  of  the  paintings,  by  which  those  are  repre- 
sented, in  order  to  be  furnished  at  once  with  their  chrono- 
logical relation  to  each  other.  If  the  events  are  con- 
temporary, he  will  instantly  perceive  it."  ^ 

In  addition  to  the  formal  literary  education  described, 
the  children  were  taught  to  sing  and  to  dance,  and 
were  drilled  in  a  few  simple  military  evolutions.  It 
was  these  exercises,  which  formed  part  of  the  daily 
education    of    the    children     from    their    earliest    years, 

'  Autobiography,  Vol.  I.,  p.  144. 

2  Outline  of  the  System  of  Education  at  New  Lanark,  p.  50. 


142  ROBERT   OWEN 

which  most  impressed  the  visitors  to  New  Lanark, 
as  will  be  seen  from  the  extracts  quoted  below.  The 
children,  it  should  be  added,  were  given  a  distinctive 
dress,  which  is  thus  described  by  Robert  Dale  Owen  : 
*^  The  dress  worn  by  the  children  in  the  day  school, 
both  boys  and  girls,  is  composed  of  strong  white  cotton 
cloth  of  the  best  quality  which  can  be  procured. 
It  is  formed  in  the  shape  of  a  Roman  tunic,  and 
reaches  in  the  boys'  dresses  to  the  knee,  and  in  those 
of  the  girls  to  the  ancle.  These  dresses  are  changed 
three  times  a  week,  that  they  may  be  kept  perfectly 
clean  and  neat."^ 

Such  in  outline  was  the  system  of  education  at  New 
Lanark  under  Owen's  guidance.  h\  order  to  complete 
the  picture,  I  will  quote  a  few  extracts  from  some  of  the 
accounts  left  on  record  by  the  numerous  visitors  to  the 
place  in  the  period  from    1816  to    1826. 

In  March,  18  18,  John  Griscom,  Professor  of  Chemistry 
and  Natural  Philosophy  in  the  New  York  Institute,  in 
the  course  of  a  tour  in  Europe,  in  which  he  inspected 
the  poor  colonies  in  Holland  and  other  social  experiments 
of  the  kind,  came  to  New  Lanark  and  stayed  a  night  with 
Owen.  He  was  most  favourably  impressed  with  all  that 
he  saw  in  the  establishment.  Of  his  host  he  writes  :  ''  1 
know  no  man  of  equal  celebrity,  whose  manners  are  less 
imposing,  and  who  has  more  of  the  candour  and  openness 
ot  a  child."      Professor  Griscom  gives  a  detailed  account 

'  Outline  of  the  System  of  Education  at  New  /Mnark,  p.  33.  An 
anonymous  writer  who  visited  New  Lanark  in  August,  1822,  describes 
the  whole  dress  of  the  boys  as  consisting  of  a  shirt,  and  a  plaid  jacket 
reaching  almost  to  the  knees.  Other  writers  mention  a  tartan  kilt  as 
forming  a  conspicuous  part  of  the  boys'  dress.  Possibly  the  cotton  tunic 
was  only  fur  summer  wear  (see  Xew  Existence,  I'art  V.,  p.  xxviii). 


THE   NEW    LANARK   SCHOOLS  143 

of  the    whole    school,   from   which    I    extract    a    passage 
relating  to  the  infant  school. 

"  One  apartment  of  the  school  afforded  a  novel  and 
pleasing  spectacle.  It  consisted  of  a  great  number  of 
children,  from  one  to  three  or  four  years  of  age.  They 
are  assembled  in  a  large  room,  under  the  care  of  a 
judicious  female,  who  allows  them  to  amuse  themselves 
with  various  selected  toys,  and  occasionally  collects  the 
oldest  into  a  class,  and  teaches  them  their  letters.  They 
appeared  perfectly  happy,  and  as  we  entered  the  little 
creatures  ran  in  groups  to  seize  their  benefactor  by 
the  hand,  or  to  pull  him  by  the  coat,  with  the  most 
artless  simplicity.  This  baby  school  is  of  great  con- 
sequence to  the  establishment,  for  it  enables  the  mothers 
to  shut  up  their  houses  in  security,  and  to  attend  to 
their  duties  in  the  factory,  without  concern  for  their 
families."  ^ 

Another  writer,  who  visited  New  Lanark  in  1822,  says 
that  "  the  moment  Owen  came  into  the  court  where  the 
infants  were  assembled,  they  ran  in  crowds  to  meet  their 
benefactor,  and  stretched  out  their  little  hands  to  welcome 
him  or  looked  up  with  looks  of  gratitude  as  he  passed. 
There  were  some  too  young  to  walk  alone,  and  these 
were  seen  endeavouring  with  the  greatest  anxiety  to 
get  forward  by  the  assistance  of  the  wall,  or  whoever 
would  help  them."^ 

At  a  later  date  we  have  an  account  from  another 
American  visitor.  The  following  description  is  taken 
from    the    editorial    correspondence    of    the    New    York 

^  A  Year  in  Europe^  by  John  Griscom,  Vol.  II.,  p.  385.  New 
York,   1823. 

^  Account  of  a  visit  in  August,  1822,  published  in  the  Dubliti  Report 
quoted  in  A'eiu  Existence,  Part  V.,  p.  xxxi. 


144  ROBERT   OWEN 

Statesman,  May  20,  1826.^  The  date  of  the  visit 
was  November,  1825.  Owen  at  the  time  was  in  America, 
and  the  visitor  was  shown  round  the  establishment  by 
the  superintendent. 

*'  He  first  introduced  us  into  a  hirge  hall,  containing 
much  of  the  apparatus  used  in  Mr.  Owen's  system  of 
education.  Among  other  articles  were  large  historical 
charts,  covering  the  walls  of  the  apartment, — a  folio 
volume  of  topographical  delineations  of  the  principal 
towns  in  Scotland, — a  terrestrial  globe  six  feet  in  diameter, 
— and  a  suite  of  emblems  designed  to  illustrate  the 
principles  of  English  grammar.  The  last  invention  has 
at  least  the  merit  of  being  ingenious.  It  consists  in 
personifying  the  parts  of  speech,  and  in  assigning  to  each 
its  relative  importance  according  to  the  military  system. 
General  Noun  figures  in  his  cocked  hat,  sword,  and  double 
epaulettes.  By  his  side  stands  Colonel  Verb,  and  so  on 
down  to  Corporal  Adverb. 

"  From  this  vestibule  of  the  establishment  the  super- 
intendent took  us  upstairs  to  the  large  dancing-hall, 
which  opens  precisely  at  seven  o'clock  every  morning. 
Here  we  found  some  eighty  or  a  hundred  children  of 
both  sexes,  at  an  average  age  of  about  ten,  paraded  on 
the  floor,  under  the  charge  of  a  dancing-master,  and 
moving  in  measured  steps  to  the  music  of  an  orchestra. 
They  were  all  in  uniform — the  boys  wearing  Highland 
kilts  of  plaid,  and  the  girls  ginghams  of  a  different 
figure.  Both  sexes  met  the  floor  with  naked  feet.  After 
undergoing  sundry  drill  in  marches  and  counter-marches, 
they    were    directed    to    take    partners    for    cotillons,    to 

'  Quoted    in  New   Harmony  GazetU,    Vol.    1.,    p.    317,   and  in    New 
Existence,  Part  V.,    pp.  xl.,  xli. 


F'JDLIC  1.13  ARY 


A:^lCa^.  LLINOX   AND 

. ,  Ul-N   ruUNUAilUNS 

H  L 


THE   NEW   LANARK   SCHOOLS  145 

which  were  added  strathspeys,  reels,  and  other  national 
dances. 

"  Next  came  a  concert  of  music.  The  children  were 
paraded  in  battalia,  and  sang  half  a  dozen  of  the  finest 
Scotch  songs  in  full  chorus.  So  far  as  I  am  a  judge, 
they  made  no  discords,  and  the  effect  was  certainly 
pleasing  as  well  as  imposing.  Music  is  learned  upon 
the  Lancasterian  plan,^  from  a  large  roll  many  yards 
in  extent,  containing  the  gamut,  with  the  addition  of 
select  tunes.  It  is  placed  in  a  conspicuous  part  of  the 
room,  where  the  notes  can  be  distinctly  seen  at  the  same 
moment  by  every  pupil.  The  words  are  committed  to 
memory  from  printed  cards,  embracing  a  selection  of 
the  best  songs.  Perfect  order,  decorum  and  good  feeling 
seemed  to  prevail  among  the  children,  who  are  taken 
promiscuously  from  the  families  of  the  labourers. 

"  From  the  ball-room,  we  proceeded  to  the  other 
departments  of  the  school,  and  heard  classes  go  through 
with  their  recitations  in  geography  and  botany.  The 
former  is  taught  entirely  by  maps,  and  the  latter  by 
transparent  plates.  In  both  the  children  answered  with 
surprising  promptness  and  accuracy.  Girls  of  twelve 
years  old  appear  to  be  perfectly  versed  in  the  Linnasan 
system  of  classification,  and  able  at  a  glance,  not  only  to 
give  the  technical  names  of  the  parts  of  a  plant,  but  to 
reduce  it  to  its  genus  and  species.  How  far  such  know- 
ledge is  acquired  by  rote  ;  what  effect  the  discipline  has 
upon  the  mind  ;  and  whether  some  of  the  branches 
taught   are  relatively  the  most   important,  are   questions 

^  The  plan  according  to  Owen  was  not  Lancasterian  {New  Existeiice^ 
Part  v.,  p.  xliii.).  But  by  this  date  the  regulations  of  January,  1824,  had 
presumably  come  into  force,  and  the  master  would  in  that  case  be  a 
Lancasterian.     See  below. 

VOL.    I  10 


146  ROBERT   OWEN 

upon  the  discussion  of  which  1  am  not  disposed  to  enter. 
My  general  impression,  however,  was,  that  while  Mr. 
Owen's  system  is  calculated  to  divest  large  manufacturing 
establishments  of  their  terrors,  by  removing  gross  ignor- 
ance, vulgarity  of  maimers,  and  vicious  habits,  and  by 
substituting  in  their  places  the  decencies  and  refinements 
of  good  society,  it  is  somewhat  deficient  in  those  branches 
which  qualif)'  the  young  mind  for  the  more  serious  duties 
and  avocations  of  life." 

In  quoting  this  account  in  the  Appendix  to  Part  V. 
of  The  New  Existence  of  Man  upon  Earthy  Owen  explains 
that  the  writer  had  evidently  not  comprehended  the 
whole  scheme  of  instruction  of  New  Lanark,  which 
included  not  merely  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  sewing, 
knitting,  etc.,  but  also  practical  instruction  in  the  arrange- 
ment and  management  of  domestic  concerns,  and  in 
various  useful  arts,  as  well  as  the  moral  education  which 
formed   the   backbone   of  the   whole    scheme. 

As  regards  the  general  effect  of  the  New  Lanark 
system  of  education  on  the  conduct  and  character  of  the 
children,  we  have  some  very  striking  testimony. 

Thus  James  Smith,  in  his  Excursions  in  Scotland 
in    1820  :  ^ 

"It  has  been  a  great  object  with  Robert  Owen  to 
extinguish  the  government  by  fear  ;  and  in  the  attain- 
ment of  this  he  has  been  very  successful,  even  with 
the  youngest  of  his  flock.  It  was  singularly  gratifying 
to  observe,  wherever  we  met  with  any  of  the  children, 
with  what  delighted  looks  they  received  him.  I  may 
further  state  that  in  all  my  observations  on  the  children, 
in    the    schools,    at    their    play,   or   elsewhere,   I   did  not 

•  Published  in  1824.     (Juotcd  in  New  Existence,  Part  V.,  p.  xxxvii. 


THE   NEW    LANARK    SCHOOLS  147 

see  one  angry  look  or  gesture.  There  was,  on  the 
contrary,  a  harmony  in  all  their  intercourse,  of  which  I 
can  scarcely  speak  too  highly." 

I  will  conclude  by  quoting  from  two  reports  of  a 
more  representative  character  testifying  to  the  excellent 
results  of  the  training  afforded  to  the  children  "  in 
this  happy  village,"  as  the  first  report  styles  it. 

In  1 8 19  the  Guardians  of  the  Poor  in  the  township 
of  Leeds  appointed  a  deputation  to  report  upon  the 
system  of  education  pursued  at  New  Lanark.  The 
deputation,  which  consisted  of  three  men,  Edward  Baines, 
of  the  Leeds  Mercury^  Robert  Oastler  and  John  Cawood, 
visited  New  Lanark  in  August.  They  found  that  the 
number  of  children  between  two  and  ten  years  of  age 
was  380  ;  and  they  reported  that — 

''These  latter  are  receiving  daily  instructions  in  the 
schools  ;  and  by  showing  to  them  a  spirit  of  kindness 
and  impressing  them  with  a  sense  of  their  duty  (with- 
out the  hope  of  reward  or  the  fear  of  punishment), 
they  are  making  satisfactory  progress  in  reading,  writing, 
and  accounts,  as  well  as  in  music  and  dancing,  in 
addition  to  which  the  girls  are  taught  to  sew. 

"  In  the  education  of  the  children  the  thing  that  is 
most  remarkable  is  the  general  spirit  of  kindness  and 
affection  which  is  shown  towards  them,  and  the  entire 
absence  of  everything  that  is  likely  to  give  them  bad 
habits,  with  the  presence  of  whatever  is  calculated  to 
inspire  them  with  good  ones  ;  the  consequence  is,  that 
they  appear  like  one  well-regulated  family,  united  together 
by  the  ties  of  the  closest  affection.  We  heard  no  quarrels 
from  the  youngest  to  the  eldest  ;  and  so  strongly 
impressed  are  they  with  the  conviction  that  their  interest 


148  ROBERT   OWEN 

and  duty  are  the  same,  and  that  to  be  happy  themselves 
it  is  necessary  to  make  those  happy  bv  whom  they  are 
surrounded,  that  they  had  no  strife  but  in  offices  of 
kindness.  With  such  dispositions,  and  with  their  young 
minds  well  stored  with  useful  knowledge,  it  appeared 
to  us  that  if  it  should  be  their  destiny  to  go  out  to 
service  or  to  be  apprenticed,  the  fiimilies  in  which  they 
are  fixed  would  find  them  an  acquisition  instead  of  a 
burden  ;  and  we  could  not  avoid  the  expression  of  a 
wish  that  the  orphan  children  in  our  Workhouses  had 
the  same  advantage  of  moral  and  religious  instruction, 
and  the  same  prospect  of  being  made  happy  themselves 
and  useful  to  the  families  in  which  they  are  placed." 

Of  the  children  who  had  already  passed  through 
the  schools  and  were  now  employed  in  the  mills  through 
the  day,  with  the  opportunity,  if  they  wished,  of  attend- 
ing school  for  i-^-  hours  in  the  evening,  the  deputation 
writes  : 

"  The  deportment  of  these  young  people,  owing 
probably  to  the  advantages  of  their  early  training,  is 
very  exemplary.  In  business  they  are  regular  and  diligent, 
and  in  their  manners  they  are  mild  and  engaging."  ^ 

The  Duke  of  Kent,  father  of  Queen  Victoria,  was 
one  of  Owen's  warmest  friends  and  patrons.  In  this 
same  year,  1819,  he  deputed  his  physician.  Dr.  H. 
Grey  Macnab,  to  visit  New  Lanark  and  report  upon 
the  whole  establishment  there.  Owen's  outspoken 
denunciation  of  all  religions  had  created  strong  antagonism 
to  him  in  many  quarters.  Macnab  himself,  as  he  explains 
in  his  book,  was  somewhat  prejudiced  against  Owen 
because  of  the  want  of  judgment  and   proportion  shown 

'  Quoted  in  New  Existence,  Part  V.,  pp.  xxiv,  xxv. 


THE   NEW    LANARK    SCHOOLS  149 

in  his  writings.  He  was  not  even  convinced  of  Owen's 
sincerity,  and  was  by  no  means  prepared  to  take  his 
success  as  a  practical  reformer  on  his  own  uncorroborated 
testimony.  The  Duke,  who  knew  Owen's  real  worth, 
no  doubt  promoted  the  enquiry  less  for  his  own  satis- 
faction than  as  a  means  of  dispelling  the  public  prejudice. 

Macnab,  a  man  perhaps  of  too  kindly  and  emotional 
a  temperament  for  the  exercise  of  dispassionate  criticism, 
found  all  his  doubts  dissolve  away  under  the  genial 
influence  of  the  place,  and  blessed  the  undertaking 
altogether.  Of  the  school  and  the  children  he  can 
scarcely  trust  himself  to  speak  : — 

"  The  children  and  youth  in  this  delightful  colony 
are  superior  in  point  of  conduct  and  character  to  all 
the  children  and  youth  I  have  ever  seen.  The  maxim 
of  our  poet,  that  nature  unadorned  is  most  adorned, 
is  recalled  to  the  mind  on  being  amongst  these  promising 
candidates  for  honour  and  happiness.  I  shall  not  attempt 
to  give  a  faithful  description  of  the  beautiful  fruits  of 
the  social  affections  displayed  in  the  young,  innocent, 
and  fascinating  countenances  of  these  happy  children 
and  youths. 

"  The  pen  of  a  Milton  and  the  pencil  of  a  Rubens 
could  not  do  justice  to  such  a  picture  ;  all,  therefore, 
I  shall  say  here  is,  that  the  first  two  days  I  was  at 
New  Lanark  were  days  of  pure  enjoyment.  The  effects 
.  produced  on  my  mind  were  such,  that  during  that  time 
I  was  actually  disqualified  for  examining  coolly  and 
deliberately  the  very  objects  of  my  visit  :  and  it  is  a 
fact,  that  my  stay  at  New  Lanark  was  prolonged  chiefly 
owing  to  this  circumstance." 

Of   the    character    of  the  inhabitants  as  a  whole  he 


150 


ROBERT   OWEN 


writes  that  he  found  at  New  Lanark  *'  more  of  the  social 
virtues  and  less  of  the  reigning  vices  .  .  .  than  will 
be  found  in  any  community  of  the  same  population  in 
any  part  of  the  civilised  world."  ^ 

From  this  brief  statement  it  is  not  difficult  to  infer 
that  Owen's  inspiration,  as  already  said,  was  derived 
mainly  from  Rousseau."  A  return  to  Nature  has  been 
the  cry  of  all  educational  reformers.  But  Owen's  return 
to  Nature,  in  the  abolition  of  all  rewards  and  punish- 
ments, and  the  replacement  of  these  arbitrary  incentives 
to  virtue  by  a  demonstration  of  the  natural  consequences 
of  social  and  unsocial  conduct,  was  more  radical  than  that 
of  any  other  reformer  save  Rousseau.  We  can  almost 
hear  the  tones  of  the  instructor  of  the  infant  Emile. 
From  Rousseau  also  came  the  principle  that  knowledge  ot 
the  things  themselves  should  precede  knowledge  of  their 
signs  in  written  or  printed   language.      Rousseau  would 

'  The  New  Views  of  Mr.  Owcft  of  Lanark,  impartially  considered^ 
etc.,  by  Henry  Grey  Macnab,  M.D.     London,  1819. 

*  How  much  of  the  details  of  his  system  Owen  derived  from 
Rousseau's  most  prominent  disciples,  and  his  own  contemporaries, 
Oberlin  and  Pestalozzi,  it  is  difficult  to  say.  As  we  saw  at  the  beginninjj 
of  this  chapter,  Oberlin  had  made  geography  a  prominent  feature  in 
his  course.  He  had  also  started  infant  schools  long  before  Owen.  But 
Owen  foreshadowed  his  infant  school  in  his  Xew  View  of  Society,  and 
actually  opened  it  in  1816,  tiie  year  before  what  was  apparently  his 
only  visit  to  Oberlin's  establishment.  Whether  he  had  previously  heard 
of  Oberlin's  experiment  does  not  appear:  and  the  point  is,  any  way» 
of  no  great  importance.  At  any  rate  Owen  was  the  first  to  establish 
an  infant  school  in  these  islands.  Thus  S.  Wilderspin  writes:  "The 
first  Infant  School  that  was  heard  of  in  this  country  {sc.  England)  was 
established  at  Westminster  in  the  year  1819  :  the  master  of  that  institution 
is  J.  Buchanan,  who  came  from  Mr.  Owen's  establishment  at  New 
Lanark,  where  an  Infant  School  had  previously  been  founded  by  that 
gentleman  *'  {Importance  of  Educatifig  the  Infant  Poor,  second  edition 
1824,  p.  23).  Dr.  Thomas  Pole?  {Ohsen>atinn'i  on  Infant  Schools,  Bristol, 
1823)   writes   to    a    similar    effect.     Subseq\iently    Brougliain,    ?nore   suo, 


THE   NEW   LANARK   SCHOOLS  151 

have  had  Emile  learn  to  read  and  write  only  when  he 
was  twelve  years  old.  Owen,  in  a  passage  already  quoted, 
would  have  preferred  to  postpone  this  branch  of 
instruction  at  any  rate  until  the  child  was  ten  years 
old.  But  in  this  matter  he  was  forced,  like  others  who 
have  endeavoured  to  put  educational  reforms  into  practice, 
to  reckon  with  the  parents.  Owen  probably  had  to 
contend  also  with  his  partners,  who  were  no  doubt  of 
opinion  that  the  full  benefit  of  the  Scriptures  could  only 
be  gathered  by  the  youthful  student  who  could  read 
them  for  himself. 

There  is  one  point  of  some  weight  in  which  Owen's 
system  of  education  appears  to  have  been  lacking. 
Rousseau  had  insisted  upon  the  importance  of  finding 
work  for  the  hands,  especially  of  young  children. 
Pestalozzi  had  always  seen  the  importance  of  manual 
exercises.     At  Stanz  he  had  tried  "  to  connect  study  with 

seems  to  have  claimed  the  honour  for  the  Westminster  School  referred 
to,  on  the  ground  that  Owen's  infant  school  being  attached  to  a 
manufactory,  did  not  count  (see  Practical  Educationists,  by  James 
Leitch,  Glasgow  1876,  p.  166).  But  in  later  utterances  Brougham  gave 
full  credit  to  Owen.  There  are  several  points  in  which  Owen's  practice 
resembles  Pestalozzi.  Thus  singing  played  an  important  part  in  Pestalozzi's 
system  of  training.  The  children  in  his  schools  learnt  to  sing  as  they 
learned  to  talk,  by  imitation  (De  Guimps,  Life  of  Pestalozzi,  translated  by 
J.  Russell,  p.  415).  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  it  was 
one  of  Pestalozzi's  methods  to  make  the  children  repeat  statements  in 
chorus  so  as  to  fix  facts  in  their  memory.  One  of  the  visitors  to  New 
Lanark  notes  that  the  children  there  would  answer  the  lecturer's  ques- 
tions simultaneously,  and  this  "simultaneous  answering,"  he  notes,  was 
'•executed  by  so  many  with  great  precision"  {New  Existe7tcey  Part  V., 
p.  xxvii).  Military  exercises,  again,  formed  part  of  the  regular  curriculum 
at  Yverdun.  (It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  in  the  Third  Essay  on  the 
Formatio7i  of  Character,  Owen  had  dwelt  upon  the  importance  of  drilling 
the  boys,  both  as  discipline,  and  as  a  first  step  in  mihtary  training  {Auto- 
biography, Vol.  L,  p.  303).)  We  have  already  seen  that  at  a  later  period 
Owen  borrowed  Pestalozzi's  method  of  mental  arithmetic. 


152 


ROBERT    OWEN 


manual  labour,  the  school  with  the  workshop "  ;  at 
Yverdun  drawing  formed  an  important  feature  in  the 
course  ;  the  pupils  were  also  taught  to  construct  geo- 
metrical solids  in  cardboard,  to  make  clay  models  of 
the  neighbouring  river-valley,  and  so  on.  But  Owen 
seems  to  have  paid  little  attention  to  this  particular 
requirement.  The  claims  of  eye  and  ear  were  abundantly 
satisfied  ;  the  voice  found  employment  in  singing  and 
speaking  ;  the  bodies  of  the  children  were  exercised  in 
drilling  and  dancing.  But  no  provision  seems  to  have 
been  made  for  drawing,  modelling  or  constructive  work 
of  any  kind.  We  hear,  indeed,  of  toys  and  games  for 
the  younger  children  ;  but  not  of  any  systematic  em- 
ployment. No  doubt  the  time  was  not  yet  fully  ripe 
for  the  idea.  Froebers  first  Kindergarten  was  not  opened 
until  1837.  Possibly  also  Owen  may  have  thought  the 
numerous  calls  of  domestic  life  and,  later,  the  work  of 
the  mills,  would  provide  all  the  manual  exercise  required. 
The  girls  were  taught  sewing  and  knitting  :  but  to 
teach  drawing,  modelling,  or  any  mechanical  art, 
except  by  way  of  apprenticeship  to  a  trade,  would  no 
doubt  have  involved  expense,  both  for  staff  and 
materials,  which  his  partners  might  have  been  unwilling 
to   sanction. 

For  the  rest,  whatever  part  of  Owen's  system  may 
have  been  due  to  inspiration  from  other  minds,  whatever 
defects  we  may  find  in  the  execution  of  the  scheme,  the 
two  things  needtul  tor  the  results  achieved  were  all  his 
own — the  spirit  of  unwearied  loving-kindness,  and  the 
strong  simplicity  which  was  able  to  keep  its  regard  fixed 
on  the  highest  issues  of  life  and  character. 

So   matters    went    on    for    about   eight   years.      From 


THE   NEW   LANARK   SCHOOLS  153 

the  outset  there  had  been  difficulties  between  Owen  and 
his  partners.  As  already  said,  the  most  active  of  them 
were  devout  Quakers,  of  whom  two,  WilHam  Allen  and 
Joseph  Fox,  had  taken  a  prominent  part  in  supporting 
the  Lancasterian  Association,  afterwards  the  British  and 
Foreign  Schools  Society.  On  the  committee  of  that 
Society  they  had  fought  hard  and  continuously  for  the 
full  representation  of  their  religious  views  ;  they  had 
indeed  at  one  time  persuaded  the  committee  to  pass  a 
rule  that  no  reading  lesson  should  be  given  in  the  schools, 
except  from  the  Bible. -^ 

To  men  of  this  stamp  Owen's  religious  views  were 
monstrous  and  intolerable.  It  is  probable  that  at  the 
outset  they  had  not  fully  realised  the  thorough-going 
nature  of  his  "  infidelity."  But  enlightenment  on  this 
point  came  very  early  in  the  history  of  the  partnership. 
In  August,  18 14,  Allen  dined  at  Braxfieldand  had  ''  much 
painful  conversation  on  the  subject  of  Owen's  peculiar 
opinions  "  ;  ^  and  misunderstanding  was  no  longer  possible 
after  the  declaration  of  August  21,  181 7,  in  the  London 
Tavern.  The  partners  nevertheless  continued  for  some 
years  longer  to  give  Owen  a  very  free  hand  in  his  educa- 
tional reforms.  "  But,  as  we  read  in  Allen's  diary,  there  were 
constant  searchings  of  heart.  The  Bible  and  Catechism 
were,  no  doubt,  as  prescribed  by  the  articles  of  partner- 
ship, regularly  read  and  taught  in  the  schools  both  on 
weekdays  and  Sundays.  But  Owen  was  without  wisdom 
of  the  worldly  kind  ;  he  made  no  secret  of  his  opinions, 
and  could  not,  probably,  be  withheld  from  preaching 
them    at    all    seasons    and   to  all   men.     In   one  respect, 

^  Life  of  Francis  Place,  by  Graham  Wallas,  p.  105. 
'  Life  of  William  Allen,  Vol.  I.,  p.  209. 


154  ROBERT   OWEN 

indeed,  the  Quakers  seem  to  have  done  Owen  an  in- 
justice. As  fanatical  in  his  beliet  as  they  in  theirs,  he 
was  gifted  with  a  tolerance,  the  direct  outcome  of  his 
opinions,  which  was  outside  the  comprehension  of  men 
like  Fox  and  Allen.  It  probably  did  not  need  the 
urgency  of  his  partners  to  permit  the  reading  ot  the 
Bible  and  other  religious  teaching  in  his  schools.  The 
fact  that  the  parents  generally  wished  it,  and  would 
have  been  uneasy  and  mistrustful  if  such  teaching  had 
been  omitted,  would  no  doubt  have  been  sufficient  in- 
ducement. But  Allen  and  Fok  may  well  have  feared 
that  even  the  Shorter  Catechism  might  prove  too 
frail  a  defence  against  the  daily  spectacle  of  infidelity 
in  high  places.  Moreover,  there  were  other  features 
in  the  scheme  which  were  objectionable.  Singing, 
dancing,  and  military  drill  were  all  abhorrent  to  the 
religious  views  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  They  may 
even  be  pardoned  if  they  took  exception  to  the 
lectures  on  geography,  with  their  accompanying  moral 
lessons. 

Lastly,  the  New  Lanark  establishment  for  eight  years 
had  been  a  place  of  pilgrimage  for  royalties,  statesmen, 
philanthropists,  reformers,  socialists,  and  humanitarian 
enthusiasts  of  all  kinds.  The  pilgrims  had  come  from 
every  country,  to  the  number,  it  is  said,  of  thirty  a 
day  for  months  at  a  time.^  Such  a  constant  influx  of 
visitors,  each  of  whom  would  require  to  be  shown  over 
the  whole  establishment,  was  no  doubt  bad  for  business. 
It  was  very  likely,  also,  bad  for  the  children  themselves ; 
and  it  would  tend  to  warp  the  scheme  of  education  and 
to    thrust    the     purely     spectacular     parts,     the     singing, 

'  New  Existence,  Part.  V.,  p.  xxxviii. 


THE   NEW   LANARK    SCHOOLS  155 

dancing,  and  drilling,  into  undue  prominence/  Apart 
from  the  fact  that  these  spectacular  parts  were  precisely 
what  the  Quakers  objected  to,  the  whole  business  afforded 
an  advertisement  to  Owen's  rationalist  views  which  must 
have  been  peculiarly  distasteful  to  sincere  if  somewhat 
fanatical  Christians.  That  men  of  such  opposite  views 
should  have  sunk  their  differences  for  the  common 
good,  and  have  worked  together  in  some  kind  of 
harmony  for  so  many  years  is  surely  creditable  to  the 
common  sense  and  humanity  of  both  parties.  But  the 
end  was  bound  to  come. 

There  had  been,  as  said,  sharp  differences  of  opinion 
from  the  outset.  Thus  Allen  writes  in  his  diary  for  the 
month  of  September,  18 14:  "Sat  down  with  R.  Owen 
and  J.  Fox  to  a  most  important  discussion  of  several 
points  in  the  articles  of  partnership,  particularly  those 
relating  to  the  training  of  the  children  and  the  use  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  This  latter  Fox  and  I  made  a 
sine  qua  non^  at  least  as  far  as  we  are  concerned,  and 
Owen  at  length  yielded."  ^ 

In  1 8 1 8  Allen  and  Foster  visited  Lanark  "  to  dis- 
cover whether  any  attempt  is  making  there  to  weaken 
the  faith  of  the  people  in  divine  revelation."  ^  They 
found  that  Owen  had  at  first  refused  leave  to  the  people 
to  found  a  Bible  Society  ;  it  was,  however,  established 
later,  and  Mrs.  Owen  and  the  family  subscribed  to  it. 
From  two  ministers  in  the  town    the    partners   received 

^  Aiton,  in  the  work  already  quoted,  criticises  the  results  of  Owen's 
educational  system,  and  endeavours  to  show  that  owing  to  the  scant 
attention  paid  to  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,  the  children  forgot 
these  accomplishments  within  a  few  years  of  leaving  school. 

^  Life  of  WilUa77i  Allen,  Vol.  I.,  p.  209. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  344,   letter  to  William  VVilberforce. 


156  ROBERT   OWEN 

a  good  report  of  the  morality  and  sobriety  of  the 
people  at  New  Eaiiark,  and  the  cheering  intelligence 
that  Owen's  principles  appeared  to  have  taken  no 
root  in  the  population.  Allen  tells  us  that  he 
asked  one  ot  these  gentlemen  to  visit  the  schools 
periodically  and  to  let  him  know  if  the  Scripture 
reading  were  neglected.  The  same  evening  Allen 
relieved  his  mind  by  addressing  the  people  for  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour  at  a  meeting  in  the  large  room 
of  the  Institution.  ^ 

In  July,  1822,  the  London  proprietors  seem  again 
to  have  become  uneasy,  and  appointed  Allen,  Foster,  and 
Gibbs  to  investigate  the  state  of  New  Lanark.  They 
reported  that  the  people  read  the  Bible  and  many  other 
religious  books  regularly,  but  that  the  system  of  educa- 
tion stood  much  in  need  of  revision.  Allen  himself  was 
rendered  "  so  miserable  by  the  manner  in  which  the 
important  business  of  education  had  been  carried  on  that 
he  had  decided  on  withdrawing,"  unless  it  could  be  set 
right.^  He  told  Owen  that  he  and  the  other  partners 
were  determined  "  to  prevent  him  from  making  New 
Lanark  an  infidel  establishment."  ^  Thereafter  discussions 
and  negotiations  for  the  reform  of  the  schools  proceeded 
for  some  months  between  Owen  and  his  London  partners, 
and  finally,  on  January  21,  1824,  the  Firm  of  Robert 
Owen  and  Co.  put  their  signatures  to  a  series  of  re- 
solutions, providing  for  the  dismissal  of  some  of  the 
old  teachers,  and  the  appointment  of  a  new  master, 
John    Daniel,    who   was    to    instruct    the    children    from 

*  Life  of  Williavi  Allen,  Vol.  I.,  p.  346. 
»  Ibid.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  237. 
3  Op.  at.,  p.  363. 


THE    NEW    LANARK   SCHOOLS  157 

the  age  of  six  years  old  and  upwards  according  to  the 
system  of  education  practised  by  the  British  and  Foreign 
Schools  Society.  Dancing  was  no  longer  to  be  taught 
at  the  expense  of  the  company,  nor  singing  and  music 
"  with  the  exception  of  instruction  in  psalmody."  There 
was  also  to  be  a  public  reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
"  and  other  religious  exercises  "  on  one  evening  a  week. 
Allen  was  a  lecturer  on  natural  and  experimental 
philosophy  at  Guy's  Hospital,  and  it  was  doubtless  owing 
to  his  influence  that  provision  was  still  to  be  made  for 
the  teaching  of  natural  science.  There  was  to  be  a 
lecture  twice  a  week  in  the  evening,  at  which  the  whole 
population  could  attend,  on  chemistry,  mechanics,  and 
other  branches  of  "  Experimental  Philosophy  and  Natural 
History  "  ;  and  suitable  apparatus  was  to  be  provided 
for  illustrating  these  lectures.  But  there  was  to  be  no 
more  moral  geography.  And  even  the  national  dress  of 
Scotland  fell  under  the  Quaker  ban.  One  resolution 
reads  : 

"  That  having  considered  the  dress  of  the  children, 
we  are  of  opinion  that  decency  requires  that  all  males  as 
they  arrive  at  the  age  of  six  years  should  wear  trousers 
or  drawers  ;  we  agree,  therefore,  that  they  shall  be 
required  to  be  so  clothed."  ^ 

Such  was  the  ending  of  a  great  educational  experiment. 
But  perhaps  a  juster  verdict  would  substitute  transforma- 
tion for  ending.  Owen's  partners  were,  like  himself,  men 
of  views  too  liberal  for  general  acceptance  by  their 
contemporaries  ;  they  were  as  sincere  as  he  in  their 
desire  to  give  education  to  all  ;  and  perhaps  they  did 
not  greatly  differ  as  to  the  means.  In  some  respects 
^  New  Existence,  Part.  V.,  p.  viii. 


158  ROBERT   OWEN 

it  is  likely  that  their  views  were  sounder,  because  more 
moderate,   than   Owen's.' 

At  all  events  the  schools  at  New  Lanark  continued 
to  flourish,  first  under  the  original  partners,  later  under 
the  successor  of  one  of  them,  John  Walker,  until  the 
institution  of  Board  Schools  in  Scotland  in  1872.  And 
dancing  was  still  permitted,  and  still  apparently  taught, 
though  whether  at  the  company's  expense  or  not  does 
not  appear.  When  I  visited  New  Lanark  for  the  first 
time  in  the  spring  of  1903,  my  guide,  John  Campbell 
Melrose,  told  me  that  in  his  boyhood,  some  thirty  years 
back,  he  and  the  other  children  still  danced  every 
morning^  from  7.15  to  8  a.m.  The  dancing-room  was 
one  of  the  upper  rooms  in  the  old  building,  and  the 
name  of  the  last  dancing-master  was  David  Dunn. 
According  to  my  guide,  the  paintings  and  maps  were 
only  taken  down  when  the  school  gave  place  to  a  Board 
School.  A  number  of  large  cardboard  plates  of  flowers 
and  plants  were  still  to  be  seen  at  the  time  of  my  visit  ; 
a  few  geometrical  models  and  other  things  ;  and  especially 

'  The  new  rules  of  January,  1824,  were  apparently  not  carried  into 
effect  very  promptly,  or  else  the  new  system  differed  in  effect  but  little 
from  the  old ;  for  the  writer  in  the  New  York  Statesman  (see  the 
account  quoted  above  in  the  text)  describes  a  visit  paid  in  November, 
182$,  at  which  he  witnessed  singing,  dancing,  drilling — and  kilts  ! 

A  correspondent  writing  to  Owen  on  August  27,  1831,  says:  "On 
Saturday  last  I  made  a  pilgrimage  to  New  Lanark,  and  was  delighted 
with  the  place.  The  Institution  is  still  conducted  upon  principles  superior 
to  those  of  any  other  establishment  in  the  Kingdom  :  but  the  inhabitants 
are  less  happy  than  they  were,  and  with  one  voice  they  lament  the 
absence  of  their  great  benefactor  "  (letter  from  Masscy  Dawson,  Manchester 
Collection). 

A  writer  in  the  Glasgow  Free  Press  in  1833  (quoted  in  The  Crisis^  Vol. 
III.,  p.  29)  gives  a  similar  account,  and  mentions  in  particular  that  singing 
and  dancing  were  still  taught,  and  that  visitors  still  came  in  great 
numbers  to  see  the  factor}'  and  the  schools. 


THE   NEW   LANARK   SCHOOLS  159 

four  of  the  original  linen  rolls,  which  used  to  be  hung 
on  the  walls,  wound  on  rollers  like  a  map.  They  were 
three  or  four  feet  wide  and  the  largest  was  perhaps  forty 
feet  in  length.  Two  of  these  rolls  were  filled  with 
musical  notation  and  tunes.  The  other  two  were 
covered  with  pictures,  painted  in  oils,  illustrating  various 
members  of  the  animal  kingdom.  There  were  zoophytes, 
worms,  shells,  Crustacea,  insects  of  the  several  orders, 
batrachia,  reptiles,  and  at  the  torn  end  of  one  roll  a  tiger 
rampant  in  his  jungle. 

And  between  the  town  of  Old  Lanark  and  the  mills 
I  passed  a  Board  School,  and  saw  some  hundred  little 
Scotch  laddies — having,  alas  !  boots  and  knickerbockers 
in  place  of  bare  feet  and  kilts — formed  in  fours  and 
marching  in  quick  time  round  the  school-yard.  So  that 
in  this,  at  all  events,  Owen's  foresight  has  been  justified. 

Owen's  experiment  at  New  Lanark  bore  early  fruit 
in  another  direction.  Among  his  friends  at  the  time 
was  Henry  Brougham,  afterwards  Lord  Chancellor. 
Brougham  was  much  impressed  by  the  success  of  the 
infant  schools  at  New  Lanark,  and  thought  that  an 
Listitution  of  the  kind  might  do  still  better  service 
amongst  the  poor  in  a  crowded  city.  He  therefore 
formed  a  committee  which  included,  amongst  others, 
Owen's  partner,  John  Walker,  Henry  Hase,  Lord 
Lansdowne,  Thomas  Babington  and  Zachary  Macaulay, 
and  in  1819  an  infant  school  was  opened  at  Brewers' 
Green,  Westminster.  Owen  cordially  co-operated  with 
the  committee,  and  gave  them  the  best  help  in  his  power 
by  sending  down  from  New  Lanark  the  weaver,  James 
Buchanan,  whom  he  had  selected  and  trained  to  act  as 
master   of  his    own  school.     Owen  himself,  on  his  first 


i6o  ROBERT    OWEN 

visit  to  the  Westminster  school,  was  by  no  means  favourably 
impressed.  He  found  that  Buchanan  had  lost  his  influence 
over  the  children,  and  that  Mrs.  Buchanan  had  been 
called  in,  to  terrify  them  with  a  whip.  However  that 
may  be,  the  Westniinster  school  grew  and  flourished, 
and  was  the  parent  of  many  more.  Samuel  Wilderspin 
visited  the  school  and  pondered  over  all  that  he  saw 
there.  A  few  years  later,  in  1824,  the  London  Infant 
School  Society  was  founded,  and  Wilderspin  was  engaged 
to  lecture  on  the  movement,  and  to  assist  in  founding 
similar   schools  throughout    the   Metropolis.^ 

'  See  Owen's  Life,  Vol.  I.,  p.  152,  etc.  Obsen'aiious  on  I ttf ant  Schools, 
by  Thomas  Pole,  Bristol,  1823.  hnportance  of  Educating  the  Infant 
Poor,  by  S.  Wilderspin,  London,  1824.  Practical  Educationists^  by  James 
Leitch,  Glasgow,  1S76,  pp.  \66seqq. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

JV£IV  LANARK   (continued) 

THE  Institution  for  the  Formation  of  Character,  and 
the  schools  carried  on  in  connection  with  it,  formed 
the  most  conspicuous  and  probably  the  most  important 
part  of  Owen's  work  at  New  Lanark.  But,  as  already 
intimated,  he  carried  out  many  other  reforms  with  most 
beneficial  results  to  the  health  and  morals  of  the  people. 
Owing  to  the  difficulties  which  he  experienced  in  per- 
suading his  earlier  partners  to  devote  any  share  of  their 
profits  to  unproductive  expenditure  of  any  kind,  his 
measures  could  in  the  first  years  of  his  management 
only  be  carried  out  piecemeal,  as  occasion  served,  and 
it  was  not  until  after  1813  that  he  was  really  given  a 
free  hand.  It  is  not  always  possible  to  discover  from 
the  accounts  left  to  us,  how  far  the  reforms  which  he 
contemplated  had  actually  been  carried  into  effect  before 
1816  ;  and  it  will  be  convenient,  therefore,  briefly  to 
summarise,  from  his  own  later  statements,  and  from 
various  descriptions  written  by  visitors  to  the  mills  in 
the  period  from  18 16  onwards,  the  final  results  of  his 
labours.  Of  the  schools,  and  the  lectures  and  other 
entertainments  given  in  the  evenings,  enough  has  been 
already  said  in  the  last  chapter.  But  it  should  perhaps 
be    mentioned    that  the    schools  were    open   freely,   not 

VOL.    I.  161  II 


1 62  ROBERT   OWEN 

only  to  the  children  of  the  New  Lanark  operatives,  but 
to  any  children  from  the  Old  Town  whose  parents  chose 
to  take  advantage  of  Owen's  liberality. 

Hours  of  Labour. — In  Dale's  time,  and  Dale,  as  already 
said,  was  probably  the  most  humane  employer  of  his  day, 
the  work  had  been  spread  over  thirteen  hours,  from 
6  a.m.  to  7  p.m.,  with  intervals  of  half  an  hour  for 
breakfast  and  three-quarters  of  an  hour  for  dinner, 
leaving  eleven  and  three-quarter  hours  of  actual  work. 
During  some  part  of  the  period  between  i  8oo  and  1813 
Owen  seems  to  have  been  compelled  by  his  partners  to 
raise  the  hours  to  fourteen  a  day.^  They  had  been  again 
reduced  to  thirteen  before  18 16,  and  on  the  ist  of 
January  of  that  year  they  were  still  further  cut  down 
to  twelve,  with  the  same  meal  intervals  as  before,  leaving 
ten  and  three-quarter  hours  of  actual  work."  Even  these 
shortened  hours  were  in  Owen's  view  too  long.  As  he 
told  the  Committee  of  18 16,  he  would  have  preferred 
that  there  should  be  at  most  ten  working  hours  in 
the  day. 

When  the  hours  of  labour  were  shortened,  the  wages 
of  the  operatives  were  left  unchanged.  But  as  about 
half  the  work  in  the  mills  was  piece-work,  the  measure 
had  the  effect,  at  first  at  any  rate,  of  reducing  the  earnings 
of  the  piece-workers.^  That  nevertheless  the  measure 
was  cordially  welcomed  bv  the  operatives  is  proved 
by  the  fact  that  a  year  after  its  introduction,   in  January, 

'  Owen's  Evidence  before  the  Factory  Committee  of  1816,  p.  39. 

'  In  the  debate  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  the  Factory  Act  of  1819, 
the  hours  at  New  Lanark  are  generally  referred  to  as  ten  and  a  half, 
and  it  seems  possible  that  they  were  later  actually  reduced  to  that 
amount. 

»  Ibid.,  p.  28. 


NEW   LANARK  163 

1 8 17,  they  tendered  an  address  of  thanks  to  Owen  and 
proposed  further  to  present  him  with  a  piece  of  plate. 
This  latter,  however,  he  refused  to  accept,  and  the  money 
subscribed  was  accordingly  handed  over  for  charitable 
purposes.  Again,  in  the  following  year,  a  petition  was 
presented  in  the  House  of  Commons  from  the  operatives 
at  New  Lanark,  in  favour  of  the  Factory  Bill  then  before 
the  House.  In  this  petition  the  workers  claimed  that 
they  did  more  work  in  ten  and  three-quarter  hours 
than  others  in  twelve  or  thirteen,  because  of  their 
increased  zeal  and  activity.^  Of  the  actual  effect  of  the 
shortened  hours  on  production  Owen  gives  us  no  precise 
information.  He  expresses,  indeed,  to  the  Committee  of 
1 8 16  his  conviction  that  manufacturers  would  not  lose 
by  reason  of  shortened  hours  of  production  ;  that  such 
shortened  hours  would  "  hardly  make  a  perceptible 
difference  in  the  prime  cost  of  any  article."  But  he  had 
no  figures  to  give  :  and  it  is  clear  that  he  reckoned 
any  slight  increase  in  the  cost  of  production  as  insig- 
nificant in  comparison  with  the  improved  health  and 
enlarged  opportunities  of  instruction  afforded  to  the 
workers.^ 

Fortunately  there  is  a  document  in  the  Manchester 
Collection  which  throws  some  light  upon  the  effect  on 
production  of  the  shortened  hours  of  labour.  In  1822 
Owen's  son  Robert,  at  his  father's  request,  prepared  a 
statement,  which  is  given  below,  of  the  total  wages  and 
produce  of  the  mills  for  the  eight  years  from  18 14  to 
1 821.  It  will  be  seen  that  in  the  year  18 16 — the  first 
year  of  the  shortened  hours — the  gross  wages  of  the 
operatives  show  an  increase  of  about  three  per  cent.,  whilst 

^  Hansard,  Vol.  37,  p.  1182.  '  Evidence,  p.  21. 


164 


ROBERT   OWEN 


the  wages  of  the  mechanics  and  the  salaries  of  the 
superintendents,  etc.,  have  risen  in  a  much  higher  pro- 
portion. During  the  same  period  the  produce  has  actually 
fallen  in  weight  to  the  extent  of  nearly  eight  per  cent., 
though,  as  a  finer  quality  of  yarn  was  produced,  the 
actual  fall  in  value  was  probably  much  less.  In  the 
following  year,  i  8 1  7,  the  gross  wages  of  the  operatives 
have  again  risen,  to  the  extent  of  two  and  a  half  per  cent. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  wages  of  superintendence  have 
decreased  and  the  produce  shows  a  much  larger  pro- 
portionate increase,  so  that  much  of  the  loss  on  the 
previous  year's  working  appears  to  have  been  made 
good.  We  must  share  Robert  Dale  Owen's  regret  that 
time  did  not  permit  of  the  value  of  the  produce  being 
included  in  the  statement,  for  the  money  value  would 
probably  have  afforded  a  more  precise  measure  than  either 
pounds  or  hanks  of  the  productiveness  of  labour  under 
the  new  conditions.  I  have  added  an  analysis  of  the 
table  showing  for  each  year  the  amount  in  pounds  and 
hanks  represented  by  ^i  sterling  of  the  operatives'  and 
of  the  gross  wages  respectively. 


Statement  of  Wages  and  Produce  in  the  Years 
1814  TO  1821. 


YEAR. 

MILL 
WAGES. 

MECH. 
WAGES. 

SALARY 
ACCOUNT. 

TOTAL  OF 
WAGES. 

LB. 

HANKS. 

1814 
I815 

1816 
I817 
1818 
I819 
1820 
I82I 

22,096 
22,811 

23,509 
24,171 
23.472 
24,596 
25.292 

23,675 

2,627 
3,051 

3,570 
3,661 
3.495 
3.674 
3,860 
3.382 

2,747 
2,710 

3,131 
2,933 
2,953 
2,957 
3.124 
2,940 

C 
27,471 
28,572 

30,211    ; 
30,766    i 
29,921    1 
31,228 
32,277    1 
29,997    1 

1,385.390 
1,451.947 

1,339.434 
1.424,513 
1,457.096 
1,465,445 
1,459,094 
1,377.580 

34.675.088 
35.696,543 

35.582.271 
36,834.150 
35.2i3.li4 
36,511.553 

39.799-479 
37.184,722 

NEW   LANARK 


165 


Analysis  of  Statement  of  Wages  and  Produce  in  the 
Years  1814  to  1821. 


YEAR. 

jQl   OF  MILL  WAGES  PRODUCES 

£1    OF  TOTAL  WAGES  PRODUCES 

LB. 

HANKS. 

LB. 

HANK3. 

I814 

I815 

i8i6 

1817 

1818 

1819 

1820' 

1821' 

62-7 
63-6 

56-9 
58-9 
62-1 
59-6 
57-7 

58-2 

1569-3 
15649 

^513-1 
1523-9 
1500-2 
14844 
1573-6 
I579-I 

50-4 
50-8 

443 
46-3 
487 
469 

45-2 
45-9 

1262-2 

1249-4 

II77-8 
1197-2 
1176-9 
1169-2 

I233-I 
12396 

Child  Labour. — As  already  said,  Owen  raised  the 
lower  limit  of  age  for  the  employment  of  children 
to  ten  years.  He  would  have  preferred  that  no 
children  should  be  employed  in  the  mills  until  twelve, 
and  allowed  any  children  whose  parents  wished  it 
to  remain  in  the  schools  until  that  age.  But  the 
privilege  was  rarely  if  ever  taken  advantage  of ;  the 
parents  were  no  doubt  unable  to  forego  the  children's 
earnings. 

JVages. — The  deputation  despatched  in  1 8 1 9  by  the 
Guardians  of  the  Poor  at  Leeds  comment  in  their  report 
on  the  lowness  of  the  wages  paid.  The  average  weekly 
wages  at  New  Lanark  for  youths  under  eighteen  was 
4^.  3^.,  and  for  girls  under  eighteen  y.  5^.  For  men 
the  average  was  9^.  iid.  2,  week  and  for  women  6s. 
The  average  earnings  of  piece-workers  were  25  to 
50  per  cent,  higher  in  each  case.  Macnab  points  out  - 
that  Owen  paid  his  workpeople  lower  wages  than  were 
commonly    paid    in    similar    establishments     elsewhere. 

^  One  of  the  mills  was  burnt  down  at  the  end  of  November,  1819. 
'  Op.  cit.,  p.  130. 


i66  ROBERT   0\\^N 

And  Owen  himself  before  the  Committee  of  1816  gives 
testimony  to  the  same  effect.^  Owen  cites  the  case  of 
a  man  who  had  been  earning  i8j.  a  week  at  New 
Lanark,  and  left  to  earn  a  guinea  a  week  in  some 
mills  at  Glasgow.  Shortly  afterwards  he  applied  to 
be  taken  on  again  at  New  Lanark  ;  and,  his  old  place 
having  been  filled  up,  he  was  glad  to  accept  an  inferior 
position  at  only  14J.  a  week. 

There  was  also  the  public  store,  established  originally 
by  Dale,  but  enlarged  and  improved  under  Owen's 
management.  Provisions,  clothing,  etc.,  of  all  the  best 
qualities  were  purchased  wholesale,  and  retailed  at  prices 
some  twenty  per  cent,  or  more  below  that  charged  at 
ordinary  shops  for  articles  of  inferior  quality.  The 
profit  realised  by  the  sales  amounted  nevertheless 
to  about  £100  a  year — sufficient,  as  Owen  told  the 
Committee  of  181 6,  to  defray  the  entire  cost  of  the 
schools.^ 

The  working  classes  of  Scotland,  it  may  be  hazarded, 
are  not  more  given  to  sobriety  than  the  working  classes 
of  other  nations.  Nor  were  the  people  of  Lanark  before 
Owen's  advent  in  any  way  superior  in  this  respect  to 
their  fellow-countrymen  generally.  The  worthy  gentleman 
who  wrote  a  report  on  Lanark  for  Sinclair's  Statistical 
Account  of  Scotland  puts  the  matter  in  delicate  and  scarcely 

*  Evidence,  pp.  22,  23.  Before  the  same  Committee  Adam  Bogle, 
partner  in  a  Glasgow  firm  of  cotton-spinners,  gave  evidence  that  in 
their  mule-twist  factory  the  average  wages  (men,  women  and  children) 
per  head  were  9.9.  %d.  a  week.  He  does  not  say  how  many  children 
were  included  in  the  total,  but  probably  not  less  than  half  {Report, 
p.  166). 

'  That  is,  exclusive  of  rent.  \N'ritinR  in  1849,  however,  Owen  estimated 
the  cost  of  the  schools  to  the  company  at  £\,200  a  year.  See  New 
Existence,  Part  \'.,  p.  62. 


NEW   LANARK  167 

ambiguous  language.     The  'people  of  Lanark,  he   says, 
"  are  naturally  generous,  hospitable  and  fond  of  strangers, 
which    induces    them   sometimes  to   make   free  with  the 
bottle,"   and   he   adds  that   whilst   "drunkenness    among 
the  better  class  of  inhabitants  is  of  late  rather  unusual, 
it    is    less  so   among    the    others."     Owen,   as    we    have 
already    seen,    recognised    the    evil,    and    showed    equal 
courage   and  sagacity  in  the  methods  which  he  adopted 
for  remedying  it.     He   found  that  the  people  got  their 
supplies   of  food   and  also   of  spirits  from  several  small 
retail  shops.^     Owen    felt,   no    doubt,   that   it   would  be 
impracticable  to  enforce  total  abstinence  among  his  people. 
He  boldly  accepted  the  situation,  therefore,  and  included 
whiskey  amongst  the  articles  to  be  obtained  at  the  public 
store.     Probably,  as  Macnab  suggests,  he  trusted  largely 
to  the  effects  of  publicity   to   shame    the    workers    into 
sobriety.     Possibly   also    there    was    some    restriction    as 
to  the  hours  of  sale  and  as  to  the  amount  to  be  purchased. 
From  a  passage   in   evidence   before    the    Committee    of 
18  16,  it  appears  that  the  amount  of  whiskey  purchased 
was  entered  in  the  purchaser's  pass-book" — no  doubt  in 
order  that  payment  might  be  deducted  from  the  wages. 
It  is  unlikely  that  whiskey  was  treated  exceptionally  in 

^  Life^  Vol,  I.,  p.  65.  Robert  Dale  Owen  {Threading  my  Way,  p.  70) 
says  that  in  Dale's  time  no  grog-shops  were  permitted  in  the  village,  but 
that  the  people  got  their  drink  from  the  Old  Town.  This  account  of  the 
matter  is  perhaps  not  inconsistent  with  the  statement  in  tjie  text ;  the 
small  shops  referred  to  may  have  been  in  Old  Lanark.  At  any  rate 
there  is  general  agreement  that  drunkenness  was  very  prevalent  in 
Dale's  time. 

'  Reporty  p.  167.  The  person  referred  to,  a  woman,  had  left  New 
Lanark  after  three  years'  employment  there,  ostensibly  because  she  did 
not  like  dancing.  But  inspection  of  her  pass-book  suggested  another 
explanation.  For  the  first  six  months  of  her  employment  her  expenditure 
on  whiskey  was  only  15.  lod.  \  in  the  last  six  months  it  had  risen  to  22j", 


i68  ROBERT    OWEN 

this  respect,  so  that  it  seems  probable  that  all  article 
could  thus  be  obtained  on  short  credit  at  the  stores  ; 
and  the  use  of  money  would  thus  be  avoided,  whilst 
a  check  would  readily  be  instituted  on  undue  consumption 
of  intoxicants. 

But  Owen  did  not,  at  any  rate  in  the  earlier  years 
of  the  experiment,  trust  exclusively  to  measures  of  this 
kind  for  repressing  intemperance.  He  employed  watch- 
men to  patrol  the  streets  and  report  any  case  of 
drunkenness.  The  offenders  were  fined  for  the  first  and 
second  offence,  and  were  liable  to  dismissal  on  the  third 
occasion.^  By  general  testimony  his  efforts  met  with 
complete  success,  and  New  Lanark  appears  to  have  been 
the  soberest  village  in  Scotland.  It  was  also  one  of  the 
most  moral.  We  have  unfortunately  no  statistics  of  the 
number  of  illegitimate  births  at  New  Lanark  in  Dale's 
time,  but  it  is  certain  that  Dale  did  his  best  to  repress 
immorality.  Owen,  however,  tells  us  that  on  his  first 
coming  he  found  the  number  of  illegitimate  children 
considerable,  and  that  *'  they  increased  for  two  or  three 
years."  *  He  then  instituted  a  system  of  fines,  and  made 
the   father  in  each   case  contribute  2s.   and   the    mother 

15.  weekly  to  a  Poor  Fund.  By  this  and  other 
means  the  number  of  births  out  of  wedlock  was  greatly 
diminished.       In    1819  the  Leeds  Deputation   state   that 

*  the  moral  habits  of  the  people  are  very  exemplary," 
and  furnish  confirmation  of  the  statement  in  the  fact 
that  during  the  previous  nine  and  a  half  years, 
with    1,380   women,   there    had    been    only    twenty-eight 

'    Threading  my  Way,  p.  70. 

•  Report^  p.  40.     The  statement  in  inverted  commas    probably   does 
not  mean  that  the  rate  of  illegitimate  births  increased. 


NEW   LANARK  169 

illegitimate    births,    and    the    father    was    in   most    cases 
non-resident/ 

Amongst  minor  benefits  Owen  provided  medical 
attendance  for  all  at  New  Lanark.^  There  was  also  a 
Sick  Fund,  which  the  workpeople  themselves  maintained, 
each  person  contributing  for  the  purpose  a  sixtieth  part 
of  his  wages  ;  ^  and  a  Savings  Bank,  the  deposits 
in  which  during  the  year  181 8  amounted  to  over 
^3,000/  Owen  had  also  contemplated  establishing 
public  kitchens  and  eating-rooms,  and  had  designed 
to  set  aside  part  of  the  old  school-buildings  for 
the  purpose.  He  estimated  that  the  workpeople 
would   save   ^4,000    or  ^5,000  a    year  by  this  means.^ 

*  According  to  Aiton  {pp.  di.y  p.  22)  the  Lanark  Presbytery  in  1823 
reported  that  the  moral  state  of  New  Lanark  was  no  better  under 
Owen  than  under  "  the  late  excellent  Mr.  Dale."  But  the  testimony 
is  a  mere  vague  expression  of  belief:  and  the  witnesses  can  hardly 
be  held  impartial. 

'  Robert  Owen  at  New  Lanark,  p.  13  ;  Macnab,  p.  99. 

3  Life,  Vol.  L,  p.  281.  The  management  of  this  Sick  Fund  in  the 
later  years  of  Owen's  residence  at  New  Lanark  appears  to  have  caused 
some  friction.  In  November,  1823,  some  of  the  workpeople  appealed 
to  the  London  partners  in  the  following  terms  :  "  That  you  (the  other 
partners)  be  sohcited  to  inform  us  whether  a  friendly  invitation  or  a 
determined  compulsion  shall  hereafter  constitute  the  Society.  That  you 
be  presented  with  a  statement  of  the  whole  proceedings — by  perusing 
which  you  will  readily  perceive  our  fundamental  grievance.  .  .  .  Mr. 
Owen's  usurpation  of  managing  the  Society  agreeably  to  his  own  views, 
in  opposition  to  what  he  certainly  knows  to  be  ours.  And  further 
we  view  it  as  a  grievance  of  considerable  magnitude  to  be  compelled  by 
Mr.  Owen  to  adopt  what  measures  soever  he  may  be  pleased  to  suggest 
on  matters  that  entirely  belong  to  us.  Such  a  course  of  procedure  is 
most  repugnant  to  our  minds  as  men,  and  degrading  to  our  characters  as 
free-born  sons  of  highly  favoured  Britain  "  (quoted  by  Aiton,  op.  cit.,  p.  37). 
The  benevolence  of  the  most  benevolent  of  despots  will  not  always 
reconcile  his  subjects  to  the  loss  of  freedom. 

*  Report  of  the  Leeds  Deputation. 

^  Griscom,  A  Year  in  Europe,  Vol.  IL,  p.  384.  Griscom's  visit  was 
paid  in  1819. 


I70  ROBERT   OWEN 

But    it    does    not    appear    that    the    intention    was    ever 
carried    out.^ 

Among  other  material  benefits  conferred  upon  the 
population  during  Owen's  management  must  be  mentioned 
the  improvement  in  the  dwelling-houses  and  in  the 
general  hygiene  of  the  village  mentioned  in  Chapter  V., 
the  throwing  open  of  the  woods  near  the  village,  and 
the  construction   of  walks  through  them. 

But  all  these  tangible  gifts  formed  the  lesser  part  of  the 
debt  which  the  inhabitants  of  New  Lanark  owed  to  their 
employer's  paternal  government.  There  was  something 
else  than  the  cash  nexus  to  bind  the  community  together. 
The  sincerity  and  benevolence  of  Owen's  character  were 
reflected  in  all  around.  It  was  not  only  the  cleanliness, 
sobriety,  and  order  of  the  village  which  impressed  the 
frequent  visitors  ;  but  the  spirit  of  happiness  and  good- 
will which  prevailed  everywhere.  The  Leeds  Deputation 
gives  straightforward  testimony  to  this  effect  : — 

"  Mr.  Owen's  establishment  is  essentially  a  manu- 
facturing establishment,  conducted  in  a  manner  superior 
to  any  other  the  deputation  ever  witnessed,  and  dispensing 
more  happiness  than  perhaps  any  other  institution  in 
the  kingdom  where  so  many  poor  persons  are  employed  ; 
and  is  founded  on  an  admirable  system  of  moral 
regulation.  .  .  .  Public-houses  and  other  resorts  of 
the  vicious  arc  nowhere  to  be  found  in  this  happy 
village  ;  and  the  absence  of  their  contaminating  influence 
is  strikingly  exemplified  in  the  contrast  of  manners  and 
of   conduct    between    the    inhabitants    of    New    Lanark, 

'  The  scheme  is  still  spoken  of  in  the  future  tense  by  a  visitor  to 
New  Lanark  in  1822  (see  the  account  quoted  from  the  "  Dublin  Report  " 
in  New  Existence,  Part  V.,  p.  xxx.),  and  the  agreement  of  1824  mentions 
the  public  kitchens  as  still  uncompleted. 


NEW   LANARK  171 

and  of  most  (we  fear  we  may  say  all)  other  manufacturing 
places.  ...  In  the  adult  inhabitants  of  New  Lanark 
we  saw  much  to  commend.  In  general  they  appeared 
clean,  healthy,  and  sober.  Intoxication,  the  parent  of 
so  many  vices  and  so  much  misery,  is  indeed  almost 
unknown  here.  The  consequence  is  that  they  are 
well-clad,  and  well-fed,  and  their  dwellings  are  in- 
viting.  .  .   . 

"  In  this  well-regulated  colony,  where  almost  every- 
thing is  made,  wanted  by  either  the  manufactory  or  its 
inhabitants,  no  cursing  or  swearing  is  anywhere  to  be 
heard.  There  are  no  quarrelsome  men  or  brawling 
women.  .  .  .  The  Scotch  character  has  in  it,  no  doubt, 
something  that  disposes  to  a  more  exemplary  observance 
of  the  Sabbath  than  is  generally  to  be  met  with  in 
England  ;  but  this  circumstance  apart,  it  is  quite  manifest 
that  the  New  Lanark  system  has  a  tendency  to  improve 
the  religious  character  ;  and  so  groundless  are  the  ap- 
prehensions expressed  on  the  score  of  religion  suffering 
injury  by  the  prevalence  of  these  establishments,  that  we 
accord  with  Mr.  Owen  in  his  assertion  that  the  inhabitants 
of  that  place  form  a  more  religious  community  than  any 
manufacturing  establishment  in  the  United  Kingdom. 
This  effect  arises  out  of  the  circumstances  by  which  they 
are  surrounded,  and  is  wholly  independent  of  any 
sentiment  on  religious  subjects  entertained  by  Mr.  Owen 
himself"  ^ 

To  this  last  clause  we  may  add  the  testimony  of  Sir 

William  de  Crespigny,  who  described  at  a  meeting  of  the 

British   and   Foreign  Philanthropic    Society    on    June    i, 

1822,  a  visit  which  he  had  paid  to  New  Lanark.     After 

^  New  Existence,  Part  V.,  pp.  xxiv-vi, 


172  ROBERT   OWEN 

dwelling  on  the  obvious  health  and  happiness  of  the 
children,  he  went  on  to  speak  of  the  reading  of  the  Bible 
in  the  schools,  and  of  the  diligence  of  the  inhabitants 
in  attending  public  worship  on  Sunday,  adding,  "  I  never 
saw  more  propriety,  good  conduct  and  devotion  in  any 
place."  ^ 

The  publication,  in  1813,  of  Owen's  Essays  on  the 
Formation  of  Character  had  as  already  said  made  him 
acquainted  with  many  of  the  leading  men  of  the  day — 
bishops,  statesmen,  economists,  and  philanthropists.  Later, 
his  evidence  before  the  Committee  of  18 16  on  Factory 
Children,  his  addresses  at  the  ''  City  of  London  Tavern  " 
in  1 817,  and  his  incessant  activity  after  that  date  in 
promulgating  his  plans  for  the  regeneration  of  society, 
carried  his  name  over  all  Europe.  Every  one  who  was 
interested  in  education  or  social  reform  came  to  New 
Lanark  to  see  the  great  social  experiment  there  in  pro- 
cess. During  the  ten  years  from  181 5  to  1825,  when 
Owen  practically  severed  his  connection  with  the  Scotch 
factory,  the  names  recorded  in  the  Visitors'  Book 
numbered  nearly  20,000.^  To  quote  Owen's  own 
catalogue,  the  visitors  included  *'  Princes  John  and 
Maximilian  of  Austria,  Foreign  Ambassadors — many 
Bishops  and  Clergy  innumerable — almost  all  our  own 
nobility — learned  men  of  all  professions  from  all  countries 
— and   wealthy   travellers    for  pleasure   or    knowledge    of 

•  New  Existence,  I'art  V.,  p.  xxxv.  So  that  the  verdict  of  the  old 
Scotchwoman  whom  Bulwcr  Lytton  interviewed  at  New  Lanark,  was 
as  irrelevant  as  it  was  ungenerous.  "  '  The  Bairns,*  said  the  old  lady, 
'  turned  out  vera  ill.  They  had  never  been  taught  this  ' — laying  her  hands 
on  the  Bible."— Lytton's  Li/e,  Vol.  I.,  p.  303  (quoted  by  5.  Walpole, 
History,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  377)- 

'  Tlircading  my  Way,  p.  115, 


NEW   LANARK  173 

every  description."  Not  the  least  interesting  amongst 
this  crowd  of  pilgrims  was  the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas, 
afterwards  Nicholas  I.,  Czar  of  Russia,  who  visited  New 
Lanark  with  his  suite  in  18 16,  and  stayed  for  a  night 
as  Owen's  guest  at  his  house,  Braxfield.  The  village 
band  met  the  Duke  on  the  outskirts  of  the  Old  Town, 
and  escorted  him  to  the  mills.  The  compliment,  as  we 
learn  from  Robert  Dale  Owen,  was  not  appreciated, 
though  the  Duke  himself  was  too  well-bred  to  show 
that  his  ear  had  been  irked  by  indifferent  music/  The 
Duke,  then  in  his  twentieth  year,  made  a  very  agreeable 
impression  on  Owen  and  his  family.  He  went  all  round 
the  mills,  asking  questions  and  seeming  to  be  unaffectedly 
interested  in  all  that  he  saw  and  heard.  He  even 
"  listened  with  marked  attention  for  two  hours  and  more 
to  an  exposition  by  Robert  Owen  of  his  peculiar  views 
for  the  improvement  of  mankind." 

With  one  of  Owen's  younger  sons,  David  Dale,  at 
that  time  nine  or  ten  years  old,  he  was  so  favourably 
impressed  that  he  intimated  a  desire  to  take  him  to 
Russia  and  find  him  a  place  at  his  Court.  He  gave 
a  more  striking  practical  proof  of  the  pleasure  he  had 
derived  from  his  visit,  and  of  his  approval  of  his  host's 
methods  for  reforming  the  world.  For,  knowing  of  the 
then  prevalent  apprehension  amongst  British  statesmen 
and  economists  that  our  little  islands  were  over-peopled, 
he  suggested  that  Owen  himself  should  come  to  Russia 
and  bring  two  millions  of  the  surplus  population  with 
him.     Both  offers  were  gratefully  declined. 

^  op.  cii.,  p.  116.  The  date  of  the  visit  was  December  26.  The  Grand 
Duke  left  on  the  following  day  for  Moffat  (see  the  Tiities,  January  i,  1817). 
There  is  a  brief  account  of  the  visit  in  the  Russian  State  archives,  which 
my  friend  M.  Petrovo-Solovovo  has  kindly  searched  for  me. 


174  ROBERT    OWEN 

One  trifling  incident  connected  with  the  Duke's 
visit  is  worth  recording  here,  as  illustrating  Owen's 
character. 

"  The  crest  of  our  family,"  writes  Owen's  son,  *'  two 
eagles'  heads,  had  been,  as  is  customary,  engraved  on 
our  service  of  plate.  At  supper,  one  of  the  Duke's 
suite,  handing  a  silver  fork  to  him,  called  his  attention 
to  the  engraving  as  being  almost  an  exact  copy  of  the 
double  eagle,  part  of  the  blazon  of  the  Russian  coat  of 
arms.  Some  jest  as  to  right  of  property  having  passed 
in  connection  with  the  matter,  and  attracted  my  father's 
attention,  it  suggested  a  gift  to  his  guest.  Accordingly, 
next  morning,  "  he  had  a  silver  dessert-set  packed  up, 
and  handed,  just  as  the  party  were  starting  oif,  to  one 
of  the  attendants,  together  with  a  letter  begging  the 
Duke's  acceptance  of  it  as  a  memento  of  his  visit  to 
New   Lanark. 

"  My  mother,  good  sensible  matron,  took  exception 
to  any  such  proceeding.  In  the  case  of  a  friend  to 
whom  wc  owed  kindness  or  gratitude,  or  to  any  one 
who  would  value  the  offering  for  the  donor's  sake,  she 
would  not  have  grudged  her  nice  forks  and  spoons,  but 
to  the  possessor  of  thousands,  a  two  days'  acquaintance, 
who  was  not  likely  to  bestow  a  second  thought  on 
the  things  ! — in  all  which  I  cordially  agreed  with 
her,  especially  when  I  found  William  Sheddon,  our 
butler,  lamenting  over  his  empty  cases,  the  gHttering 
contents  of  which  had  often  excited  my  childish 
admiration."  ^ 

Before  we  leave  New  Lanark  some  account  of  Owen's 
home    life   there — the   only   place    where    after   childhood 

'    Threading  tny  M  ay^  pp.  119,  120. 


NEW   LANARK  175 

he  ever  found  a  home — may  appropriately  be  given. 
On  their  first  coming  to  New  Lanark,  Owen  and  his 
young  wife  had  settled  in  the  cottage  situated  in  the 
centre  of  the  village —  the  same  in  which  Caroline  Dale 
and  her  sisters  had  been  wont  to  spend  their  summers 
before  her  marriage.  The  winters,  in  the  early  years 
of  married  life,  were  spent  in  Mr.  Dale's  house  in 
Charlotte  Street,  Glasgow  ;  Owen  himself  when  necessary 
riding  between  Glasgow  and  New  Lanark.  In  a  few 
years,  however,  as  his  establishment  outgrew  the  modest 
dimensions  of  the  cottage,  Owen  tells  that  he  took  on 
lease  from  Lord  Braxfield,^  one  of  the  Lords  of  Sessions, 
a  large  house  situated  about  two  furlongs  from  the 
mills,  called  Braxfield  House,  still  continuing  to  live  in 
Charlotte  Street  during  the  winter. 

Braxfield  House  stands  in  the  midst  of  large  and 
well-wooded  grounds  on  the  banks  of  the  river.  In 
front  the  grounds  slope  gently  down  to  the  water. 
Behind  the  house,  the  woods  rise  at  a  sharper  angle  to 
the  table-land  above.  Here  Owen  lived  for  many  years 
with  his  family  ;  and  here  he  was  wont  to  entertain  the 
distinguished  visitors  who  came  from  all  parts  of  the 
earth  to  see  New  Lanark.  His  family  consisted  of  four 
sons — Robert  Dale,  William  Dale,  David  Dale,  and 
Richard — and  three  daughters,  Anne  Caroline,  Jane  Dale, 
and  Mary.^  Besides  these  Mrs.  Owen's  four  younger 
sisters,  after  their  father's  death,  for  many  years  made 
their  home  at  Braxfield,  residing  there  when  they  were 
not  at  school  in  London. 

^  Robert  Macqueen,  the  famous  Lord  Justice  Clerk,  died  in  May, 
1799,  so  that  Owen's  lease  must  have  been  granted  by  Lord  Braxfield's 
representatives. 

'  Another  son,  the  first-born,  had  died  in  infancy. 


176  ROBERT   OWEN 

The  eldest  son,  Robert  Dale  Owen,  born  on  Nov.  7, 
1 801,  has  in  his  Autobiography/  from  which  we 
have  already  had  frequent  occasion  to  quote,  given  a 
delightful  picture  of  the  family  life  at  Braxfield.  Unlike 
some  who  have  set  out  to  reform  the  world,  Robert 
Owen  carried  out  his  principles  in  the  family  circle. 
Though  his  wife  used  laughingly  to  tax  him  with  loving 
the  children  at  the  mill  better  than  his  own,  there  seems  to 
have  been  affection  enough  to  go  round.  His  unvarying 
kindness  to  all  seems  to  have  been  the  dominant  feature  of 
his  character.  He  was  lenient  even  to  trespassers.  His 
son  tells  us  how  he  and  his  father,  strolling  one  Sunday 
near  the  river  in  front  of  Braxfield,  came  upon  two  of 
the  mill  hands — a  young  man  and  woman — who  had 
trespassed  on  Owen's  private  grounds,  and  how  Owen 
turned  away  rather  than  disturb  an  innocent  courtship. 
An  anonymous  writer  who  had  been  brought  up  in 
New  Lanark  from  boyhood,  and  ultimately  became  a 
teacher  in  the  schools,  gives  another  instance  to  the 
same  effect.  As  a  boy  he  had  gone  with  a  young 
companion  to  the  Braxfield  wood  to  cut  shinties  (sticks) 
for  themselves.  Whilst  intent  upon  their  lawless  pro- 
ceedings they  felt  a  touch  upon  the  shoulder.  ''  Who 
can  tell  the  perturbed  state  of  our  minds  when,  suddenly 
turning  round,  we  found  it  to  be  none  other  than 
Mr.  Owen  himself !  W^e  dropped  our  knives,  hung 
down  our  heads,  and  made  no  reply.  To  run  away 
was  out  of  the  question,  for  he  knew  us  both.  He, 
however,  broke  silence  by  thus  addressing  us  :  *  Now 
if  you  had  been  early  trained  by  precept,  but  more 
especially  by  a  strict  and  rigorous  example,  to  know 
'  Threading  ftiy  Way,    London,  1874. 


\ 


NEW   LANARK  177 

and  feel  that  your  present  conduct  was  bad,  I  should 
not  now  have  found  you  thus  employed  ;  but  the  blame 
is  not  justly  yours,  but  is  attached  to  your  parents,  and 
those  more  advanced  in  years,  who  by  their  example 
lead  you  on  to  think  and  act  in  a  similar  way  to 
themselves.  I  shall  say  no  more  to  you  ;  take  the 
branches  with  you  that  you  have  cut,  and  should  you 
again  stand  in  need  of  anything  of  this  kind  for  your 
amusement,  first  make  application  to  me,  and  having 
gained  my  consent,  you  will  then  have  nothing  to  fear 
from  my  presence.'  Such  was  the  purport  of  this  short 
lecture  to  the  two  little  culprits  in  the  midst  of  his 
woods,   and   having   said  so,    he   left  us."  ^ 

But  Owen  was  always  consistent  in  his  views. 
Neither  men  nor  babies  are  the  proper  subjects  of  praise 
and  blame  :  and  therefore  babies  must  not  be  whipped 
into  obedience.  When  the  infant  Robert  screamed,  as 
he  frequently  did,  in  a  fit  of  temper,  his  father  desired 
that  he  should  not  be  slapped  or  shaken  or  even  scolded, 
but  should  be  set  down  on  the  nursery  floor  and  left 
to  scream  himself  out.  So  it  was  done  ;  and  the  cure 
proved  effectual.  No  blow  was  ever  struck  in  anger 
in  that  house.  There  was  no  punishment  in  the  Brax- 
field  nursery,  but  also  no  praise.  Children,  like  men, 
were  the  creatures  of  circumstance,  and  should  not  be 
praised  any  more  than  blamed,  for  doing  what  they 
could  not  help.  Approval  was  testified  only  by  a 
smile  or  a  caress.  The  effect  of  this  austere  regime 
was     that     the    first    words    of    praise    received     from 

1  Robert  Owen  at  New  Lanark,  p.  8.  Perhaps  the  reader  will  think 
that  to  be  compelled  to  listen  to  such  a  portentous  homily  was  punishment 
enough.  The  writer  has  fairly  caught  the  trick  of  Robert  Owen's  style : 
but  no  doubt  the  actual  speech  is  Thucydidean — in  all  but  brevity. 

VOL.     I,  12 


178  ROBERT    OWEN 

an  outsider  produced  in  the  youthful  Robert  an 
overwhelming  effect.  But  the  boy  had  his  father's 
good  sense,  and  the  effect  on  the  whole  seems  to  have 
been    salutary.^ 

Robert  Owen  throughout  his  life,  partly  as  we  have 
already  seen  from  necessity,  partly  no  doubt  from  taste, 
was  studiously  simple  in  his  eating  and  drinking.  A 
like  simplicity  was  enforced  upon  his  children.  The 
breakfiist  was  of  porridge  and  milk  only,  the  supper 
of  bread  and  milk  ;  the  dinner  consisted  of  one  helping 
of  meat,  one  of  pudding,  and  as  much  oatmeal  cake 
as  they  wanted.  They  were  allowed  neither  tea,  coffee, 
nor  of  course,  wine  or  beer.  Their  great  weekly  feast, 
the  young  Robert  tells  us,  was  in  the  housekeeper's 
room  on  Sunday.  That  kindly  lady,  Miss  Wilson, 
invited  the  children  each  week  to  a  banquet,  where  the 
table  was  spread  with  toast  and  sweet  biscuits,  and  tea 
suitably  diluted  was  served  for  drink.  Hence,  amongst 
the  junior  members  of  the  Owen  family,  Sunday  was 
known  as  the  toast-biscuit-tea-day.  Robert  tells  us 
much  of  Miss  Wilson  and  her  kindness  to  the  children  ; 
of  the  one-armed  postman  who  brought  the  letters, 
and  taught  the  children  to  blow  soap-bubbles  from  a 
clay  pipe  ;  of  the  wicked  boot-boy  Sandy  who  maliciously 
broke  the  pipe  ;  and  how  the  punishment  which  was 
meant  for  Sandy  descended  upon  Miss  Wilson's  innocent 
head.  He  tells  us  too  of  his  own  exploits  in  driving 
and  shooting  crows,  and  riding  to  hounds  ;  of  the  mimic 
combats  between  his  younger  brother  and  himself,  e?i- 
acting  respectively  the  roles  of  Hector  and  Ajax  ;  of 
the  dancing-master  who  taught  them  Scotch  reels  and 
'   Thrciiding  my  Way,  p.  47. 


NEW   LANARK  179 

the  cotillon,  and  who  tried  to  teach  them  the  minuet  ; 
of  the  handsome  young  French  prisoner  of  war,  Monsieur 
Levasseur,  who  taught  the  two  older  boys  French,  and 
dared  to  aspire  to  the  hand  of  their  Aunt  Mary,  Mrs. 
Owen's  sister  ;  of  fox-hunting  parsons ;  of  Miss 
Edgeworth's  brother  and  other  interesting  visitors.  All 
these  histories  of  a  child's  life  nearly  a  century  ago 
are  told  with  that  winning  simplicity  which  was  part 
of  Robert  Dale  Owen's  inheritance  from  his  father. 
He  gives  us  a  picture  of  a  happy  home  and  a  family 
united  by  ties  of  the  closest  affection,  which  was  proof 
even  against  religious  differences. 

Owen  throughout  his  adult  life  professed  some 
form  of  Deism  ;  and  the  question  of  theology  naturally 
presented  difficulties  in  the  domestic  circle.  But  these 
were  smoothed  over  to  a  great  extent  by  his  large- 
hearted  tolerance.  We  have  already  seen  how,  in  the 
management  of  the  schools,  he  respected  the  religious 
views  of  the  parents.  Griscom  relates  that  on  the  first 
morning  after  his  arrival  at  Braxfield  the  servant  brought 
in  a  Bible  with  the  hot  water.^  So  with  his  father-in- 
law,  Mr.  Dale,  despite  their  profound  differences  in 
matters  of  opinion,  Owen  seems  to  have  lived  on  terms 
not  merely  of  tolerance  but  of  mutual  respect  and  warm 
affection.  They  had,  he  tells  us,  many  prolonged  dis- 
cussions, in  which  each  failed  to  move  the  other,  but 
learnt  to  respect  his  antagonist's  strength  and  sincerity. 
At  most.  Dale  would  allow  himself  to  say  to  Owen, 
in  affectionate  banter,  "  Thou  needest  be  very  right, 
for  thou  art  very  positive."  ^ 

^  A   Yea?-  in  Europe,  Vol.  II.,  p.  382. 
^  Autobiography^  Vol_.  J,,  p.  72. 


i8o  ROBERT   OWEN 

Dale's  daughter  naturally  inherited  her  father's  faith, 
and  remained  a  devout  Presbyterian  throughout  her  life. 
Owen  left  the  education  of  the  children  in  her  hands, 
and  loyally  withheld  from  them,  as  long  as  he  could, 
his  own  differing  views.  Thus  Robert  Dale  Owen 
writes  : 

"  1  recollect,  one  day  when  he  had  been  explaining 
to  me  how  seeds  produced  plants  and  trees,  that  1  asked 
him  where  the  very,  very  first  seeds  came  from,  and  that 
his  answer  did  not  go  to  shake  my  faith  in  the  Mosaic 
account  of  the  Creation.  I  remember,  too,  that  on 
another  occasion,  fresh  from  my  mother's  lesson  on  the 
almighty  and  all-pervading  power  of  the  Creator,  who 
made  the  sun  to  shine  and  all  things  to  live  and  grow, 
I  inquired  of  my  father  whether  God  went  under  the 
roots  of  the  trees  and  pushed  them  up.  But  my  father, 
in  reply,  only  smiled  and  said  he  did  not  know  how 
it  was  done."  ^ 

But  the  son's  eyes  were  soon  afterwards  opened  to 
the  father's  "  infidelity  "  by  hearing  him,  in  a  discussion 
with  a  bishop  who  chanced  to  be  their  guest,  controvert 
the  doctrine  of  man's  natural  depravity.  The  youthful 
Robert  came  to  the  assistance  of  the  Church  militant, 
receiving  at  the  time  some  ill-judged  praise  from  his 
ally,  and  the  next  morning  a  severe  rebuke  from  his 
mother  on  the  sinfulness  of  self-sufficiency  in  small  boys. 
But  as  soon  as  the  boy  realised  the  nature  of  his  father's 
opinions,  he  was  filled  with  an  earnest  desire  for  his 
conversion.  A  true  son  of  his  father,  young  Robert  at 
the  age  of  eleven  had  a  firm  belief  in  his  mission,  and 
unbounded  confidence  in  the  efficacy  of  arguments,   and 

'  Threading  my  11  ay,  p.  54. 


NEW   LANARK  i8i 

his  own  arguments  in  particular,  for    the  conversion  of 
opinion  and  the  influencing  of  conduct. 

So,  nothing  doubting,  he  set  about  to  teach  his  father 
the  error  of  his  ways : 

"  I  recollect,  to  this  day,  the  spot  on  which  I 
commenced  my  long-projected  undertaking.  It  was  on 
a  path  which  skirted,  on  the  farther  side,  the  lawn  in 
front  of  our  house  and  led  to  the  garden.  I  could  point 
out  the  very  tree  we  were  passing  when — with  some 
misgivings,  now  that  it  was  to  be  put  to  the  test — I 
sounded  my  father  by  first  asking  him  what  he  thought 
about  Jesus  Christ.  His  reply  was  to  the  effect  that  T 
would  do  well  to  heed  His  teachings,  especially  those 
relating  to  charity  and  to  our  loving  one  another. 

"  This  was  well  enough,  as  far  as  it  went  ;  but  it  did 
not  at  all  satisfy  me.  So,  with  some  trepidation,  I  put 
the  question  direct,  whether  my  father  disbelieved  that 
Christ  was  the  Son  of  God  ? 

"  He  looked  a  little  surprised  and  did  not  answer 
immediately. 

<« '  Why  do  you  ask  that  question,  my  son  ? '  he  said 
at  last. 

" '  Because  I  am  sure — '  I  began  eagerly. 

"  *  That  He  is  God's  Son  ? '  asked  my  father, 
smiling. 

'''Yes,  I  am.' 

'* '  Did  you  ever  hear  of  the  Mahometans  ? '  said  my 
father,  while  I  had  paused  to  collect  my  proofs. 

"  I  replied  that  I  had  heard  of  such  a  people  who 
lived  somewhere,  far  off. 

*'  '  Do  you  know  what  their  religion  is  ? ' 

" '  No.' 


1 82  ROBERT   OWEN 

"  *  They  believe  that  Christ  is  not  the  Son  of  God, 
but  that  another  person,  called  Mahomet,  was  God's 
chosen   prophet.' 

"^  Do  they  not  believe  the  Bible?  '  asked  I,  somewhat 
aghast. 

'* '  No.  Mahomet  wrote  a  book  called  the  Koran  ; 
and  Mahometans  believe  it  to  be  the  word  of  God. 
That  book  tells  them  that  God  sent  Mahomet  to  preach 
the  gospel  to  them,  and  to  save  their  souls.' 

''  Wonders  crowded  fast  upon  me.  A  rival  Bible  and 
a  rival  Saviour  !  Could  it  be  ^  I  asked,  *  Are  you 
quite  sure  this  is  true,  papa  ? ' 

*' '  Yes,  my  dear,  I  am  quite  sure.' 

"  '  But  I  suppose  there  are  very  few  Mahometans  : 
not  near — ncdr  so  many  of  them  as  of  Christians.' 

''  '  Do  you  call  Catholics  Christians,  Robert.''  ' 

*' '  O  no,  papa.     The  Pope  is  Antichrist.' 

"  My  father  smiled.  '  Then  by  Christians  you  mean 
Protestants  ^  ' 

'' '  Yes.' 

" '  Well,  there  are  many  more  Mahometans  than 
Protestants  in  the  world  :  about  a  hundred  and  forty 
million  Mahometans,  and  less  than  a  hundred  million 
Protestants.' 

" '  I  thought  almost  everybody  believed  in  Christ, 
as  mamma  does.' 

'^ '  There  are  probably  twelve  hundred  millions  of 
people  in  the  world.  So,  out  of  every  twelve  persons 
only  one  is  a  Protestant.  Are  you  qui/e  sure  that  the 
one  is  right  and  the  eleven  wrong  ?  ' 

"My  creed,  based  on  authority,  was  toppling.  I  had 
no  answer  ready.     During  the  rest  of  the  walk  I  remained 


NEW   LANARK  183 

almost  silent,  engrossed  with  new  ideas,  and  replying 
chiefly  in  monosyllables  when  spoken  to. 

"  And  so  ended  this  notable  scheme  of  mine  for  my 
father's  conversion."  ^ 

Ultimately  Robert  Dale  Owen  came  to  share  his 
father's  views  on  religious  and  social  questions,  and  for 
some  years  worked  with  him  as  his  staunchest  disciple 
and  ally. 

*  Threading  my  IVay,  pp.  60,  61. 


CHAPTER     IX 

THE    FIRST    FACTORY   ACT 

OWJ^^X  had  whilst  still  quite  a  young  man  won  a 
name  in  the  cotton  trade  for  the  fineness  and 
excellence  of  the  yarns  spun  under  his  management. 
At  a  somewhat  later  date  we  find  him  taking  a  prominent 
place  in  the  councils  of  the  trade.  In  1803  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Committee  of  Management  of  the  Board 
representing  the  Cotton  industry  ;  and  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Committee  on  February  2  of  that  year  he  pre- 
sented a  report  entitled  *'  Observations  on  the  Cotton 
Trade  of  Great  Britain  and  on  the  late  Duties  on  the 
Importation  of  Cotton  Wool."  There  was  at  the  time 
much  dissatisfaction  amongst  the  cotton  lords.  The 
import  duties  on  raw  cotton  which  had  been  in  force 
since  1798  had  been  repealed  in  I  80 1,  and  again  imposed, 
with  additions,  in  1802.  Owen's  paper  begins  by  setting 
out  briefly  some  statistics  of  the  trade,  with  an  estimate 
that  the  wages  paid  during  the  previous  year  amounted 
to  no  less  than  thirteen  million  pounds  sterling.  From 
these  figures  he  deduces  the  importance  of  the  industry 
to  the  country  at  large,  and  the  serious  results  which 
must  ensue  on  any  diminution  in  its  prosperity.  He 
concludes  with  a  temperate  and  carefully  reasoned 
argument  demonstrating  the  impolicy  ot  a  tax  upon  raw 
material   and    the    risk   that    the   trade   would    thereby   be 

184 


THE   FIRST   FACTORY   ACT  185 

driven  into  foreign  countries,  some  of  which  were  already 
in  a  position  to  obtain  labour,  and  now  also  raw  material, 
at  a  cheaper  rate  than  Great  Britain. 

Owen's  argument  was  no  doubt  sound.  But  pro- 
bably the  Government  felt  that  the  cotton-spinners  were 
making  such  enormous  profits  that  even  a  tax  upon  raw 
material  which  amounted  in  some  cases,  according  to 
Owen's  calculations,  to  as  much  as  20  per  cent.,^  could 
not  do  them  much  harm,  and  must  bring  in  something 
to  the  coffers  of  a  nation  impoverished  by  long  war. 
At  any  rate  they  were  not  influenced  by  Owen's 
reasoning,  for  in  the  course  of  this  same  year,  1803, 
the  duties  were  raised  by  more  than   50  per  cent." 

Twelve  years  later  the  duties  on  raw  cotton,  wher- 
ever originating,  were  i6s.  iid.  the  100  lb.,  and  a 
meeting  was  summoned  by  the  Lord  Provost  of  Glasgow 
at  the  end  of  January,  18 15,  to  agitate  for  a  repeal  of 
this  heavy  taxation.     Owen  spoke  at  the  meeting,  which 

^  The  highest  duty  on  cotton  in  1802  was  15^.  the  100  lb.,  the  lowest 
price  quoted  about  lod.  a  lb. — which  would  represent  a  duty  of  18 
per  cent,  ad  valore7?t.  (See  the  Tables  given  in  Baines's  Hist07y  of  the 
Cotton  Matiiifacture,  pp.  313,  326.) 

2  Duties  on  Raw  Cotton. 

1802,  1803. 


East  Indies £^   i6s.    per  cent.  ' 

ad  val. 
Turkey     and     United 

16s.  Sd.  per 
100  lb. 

25^.  per  100 
lb. 

States         ys.  lod.  per  100  lb. 

British  plantations    ...     los.  6d.  „         „ 
Any  other  place        ...     155-.         „         „ 

Baines,  ^oc  at. 

Half  of  the  new  duties  levied  in  1803  consisted  of  a  special  war 
tax,  8.y.  4.d.  the  100  lb.  on  British,  American,  and  Turkish  cotton,  and 
12^.  6d.  on  all  other  cotton,  imposed  by  the  Act  43  George  III. 
c.  70. 


1 86  ROBERT   OWEN 

was  held  in  the  Tontine  Hall,  and  as  his  remarks  met 
with  a  reception  not  altogether  tavourahle,  he  repeated 
them  a  day  or  two  later  in  the  form  of  a  letter  to  the 
the  Glasgow  Chronicle.  In  this  later  pronouncement  he 
begins  by  restating  the  arguments  which  he  had  used 
twelve  years  before,  setting  forth  the  importance  ot  the 
cotton  trade  to  the  nation,  and  the  imprudence,  in  view 
of  the  keen  competition  with  other  countries,  of  imposing 
a  heavy  tax  upon  the  raw  material.  So  tar,  as  he  tells 
us  in  his  Autohiografhy^  his  speech  met  with  the  full 
assent  of  the  meeting. 

But  he  failed  to  carry  the  meeting  with  him  when 
he  went  on  to  draw  their  attention  to  another  aspect 
of  the  question.  The  cotton  manufacture  with  its  vast 
profits  was  not,  he  pointed  out,  of  unmixed  benefit  to 
the  nation  :  "  1  know  from  personal  experience  that  the 
labouring  classes  were  much  more  happy  in  their  agri- 
cultural pursuits,  than  they  can  be  while  engaged,  as 
they  now  are,  in  most  branches  of  the  cotton  manufacture. 
The  lamentable  results,  however,  can  be  known  only  by 
experience  ;  and  now  the  experience  is  acquired,  it  is 
too  late  to  retrace  our  steps.  Were  we  inclined,  we 
cannot  now  return  to  our  former  state  ;  for  without  the 
cotton  trade,  our  increased  population  cannot  be  supported, 
the  interest  of  the  national  debt  paid,  nor  the  expenses 
of  our  fleets  and  armies  defrayed.  Our  existence  as  an 
independent  power,  now,  I  regret  to  say,  depends  on 
the  continuance  of  this  trade,  because  no  other  can  be 
substituted  in  its  place.  True  indeed  it  is,  that  the 
main  pillar  and  prop  of  the  political  greatness  of  our 
country  is  a  manufacture  which,  as  it  is  now  carried  on, 
is  destructive   of  the  health,  morals,  and  social  comforts 


THE   FIRST    FACTORY   ACT  187 

of  the  mass  of  the  people  engaged  in  it.  It  is  only 
since  the  introduction  of  the  cotton  trade,  that  children 
at  an  age  before  they  have  acquired  strength  of  body  or 
mental  instruction,  have  been  forced  into  cotton-mills — 
those  receptacles,  in  too  many  cases,  for  living  human 
skeletons,  almost  disrobed  of  intellect,  where,  as  the 
business  is  often  now  conducted,  they  linger  out  a  few 
years  of  miserable  existence,  acquiring  every  bad  habit, 
which  they  disseminate  throughout  Society.  It  is  only 
since  the  introduction  of  this  trade,  that  children,  and 
even  grown  people,  were  required  to  labour  more  than 
twelve  hours  in  the  day,  including  the  time  allotted  for 
meals.  It  is  only  since  the  introduction  of  this  trade 
that  the  sole  recreation  of  the  labourer  is  to  be  found  in 
the  pot-house  or  gin-shop.  It  is  only  since  the  intro- 
duction of  this  baneful  trade  that  poverty,  crime,  and 
misery  have  made  rapid  and  fearful  strides  throughout 
the  community."  ^ 

He  concluded  by  urging  those  present,  in  approach- 
ing the  Legislature  with  an  appeal  for  the  remission  of 
the  tax,   not  to   forget  the  interests  of   those  by  whom 

^  Atitobiography,  Vol.  Ia.,  pp.  i6,  17.  Owen  of  course  exaggerated 
the  extent  of  the  change  for  the  worse.  He  shared  the  common  illusion  of 
Socialists,  who  have  always  seen  the  vision  of  a  golden  age  in  the  past — 
a  vision  which  continually  recedes  as  we  seek  to  examine  it  more  closely. 
There  had  been  poverty,  drink,  and  crime  in  these  islands  before  the  inven- 
tions of  Crompton  and  Arkwright;  men,  women,  and  children  had  laboured 
beyond  their  strength  before  the  coming  of  the  factory  system.  But 
Owen  was  nevertheless  substantially  in  the  right.  The  long  hours  and 
excessive  toil  had  become  systematised,  and  had  received  toleration, 
if  not  actual  legal  recognition,  for  the  first  time  under  the  great  industry. 
Moreover,  in  the  past  the  children  for  the  most  part  had  worked  together 
with  their  parents,  under  their  parents'  roof,  in  a  common  cause  and  for 
a  bare  livelihood:  the  new  system  saw  the  passionless  oppression  of 
children  forced  to  labour  in  the  house  of  a  stranger — and  to  heap  up 
profits  in  which  they  had  no  share. 


1 88  ROBERT   OWEN 

their   profits  were    made.      He   suggested    that    statutory 
powers  should  be  sought — 

(i)  To  prevent  children  from  being  employed  in  cotton- 
mills  until  twelve  years  of  age. 

(2)  To  fix  the  hours  of  work  at  twelve  a  day,  including 
intervals  of  one  and  a  half  hours  for  meals — i.e.  ten 
and  a  half  hours  actual  work. 

(3)  For  an  educational  test  before  the  admission  of 
a  child  to  the  mills. 

Later  in  the  same  year,  in  a  pamphlet,  Observations 
on  the  Effect  of  the  Manufacturing  System^  Owen 
expanded  the  argument  of  the  address.  He  begins 
by  sketching  the  rapid  development  of  the  industrial 
system  of  the  country,  and  the  changes  it  had  worked 
in  the  conditions  of  labour  and  the  relations  generally 
between  rich  and  poor.  Only  a  generation  ago,  he 
writes,  the  poorest  parents  thought  the  age  of  fourteen 
was  early  enough  for  their  children  to  begin  work,  and 
even  that  work  was  performed  under  reasonable  human 
conditions,  which  permitted  of  leisure,  recreation,  and 
the  enjoyment  of  home  life.  Then,  too,  the  old  feudal 
relations  between  rich  and  poor  still  subsisted  ;  they 
shared  to  some  extent  the  same  surroundings,  even  the 
same  amusements,  and  neither  could  be  indifferent  to 
the  weltare  and  happiness  of  the  other.  Now  all  is 
changed.  The  poor  man  "  sees  all  around  him  hurrying 
forward,  at  a  mail-coach  speed,  to  acquire  individual 
wealth,  regardless  of  him,  his  comforts,  his  wants,  or 
even  his  sufferings,  except  by  way  of  a  degrading  parish 
charity,  fitted  only  to  steel  the  heart  of  man  against  his 
fellows,  or  to  form  the  tyrant  and  the  slave.  To-day 
he  labours  for  one  master,  to-morrow  for  a  second,  then 


THE   FIRST   FACTORY   ACT  189 

for  a  third  and  a  fourth,  until  all  ties  between  employers 
and  employed  are  frittered  down  to  the  consideration 
of  what  immediate  gain  each  can  derive  from  the  other. 
The  employer  regards  the  employed  as  mere  instruments 
of  gain,  while  these  acquire  a  gross  ferocity  of  character, 
which,  if  legislative  measures  shall  not  be  judiciously 
devised  to  prevent  its  increase,  and  ameliorate  the  con- 
dition of  this  class,  will  sooner  or  later  plunge  the  country 
into  a  formidable  and  perhaps  inextricable  state  of 
danger."  ^ 

As  a  remedy  for  the  state  thus  pictured  he  suggests 
an  Act  of  Parliament  to  regulate  the  conditions  of  child 
labour  in  factories.  The  provisions  of  the  suggested  Act 
are  identical  with  those  already  indicated  in  his  speech 
at  the  Tontine,  except  that  he  now  proposes  that  between 
ten  and  twelve  years  of  age  children  might  be  employed 
for  six  hours  a  day  in  the  factory,  the  remaining  hours 
to  be  spent  in  school — the  modern  system  of  half- 
timers. 

In  the  pursuance  of  his  campaign,  Owen  sent  copies 
of  his  proposals  to  all  the  members  of  both  Houses  of 
Parliament,^  and  subsequently  came  up  to  London  to 
interview  members  of  the  Government  and  others.  On 
the  question  of  taxation  he  was  referred  to  Mr.  Nicholas 
Vansittart    (afterwards    Lord    Bexley),     who    was    then 

^  Aiitobiogi'aphy ^  Vol.  Ia.,  pp.  40,  41. 

2  Owen  states  {Autobiogfaphy,  Vol.  I.,  p.  114)  that  the  document  thus 
distributed  was  the  address  read  at  the  Glasgow  meeting  ;  but  it  seems 
more  probable  that  it  was  the  pamphlet  published  afterwards.  The  later 
document  is  a  formal  and  reasoned  appeal  for  legislation  on  behalf  of  the 
operatives ;  whereas  the  address,  which  deals  also  with  the  effects  of  the 
tax,  was  obviously  composed  with  an  eye  to  the  particular  audience  before 
whom  it  purports  to  have  been  delivered,  and  contains  some  rhetorical 
passages  which  were  omitted  from  the  pamphlet. 


I90  ROBERT    OWEN 

Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.  Owen  tell  us  that 
Vansittart  questioned  him  on  the  cotton  trade,  and  that 
the  minister  "  blushed  like  a  sensitive  maiden  "  at  some 
remark  which  betrayed  his  own  ignorance  of  the  subject 
— a  likely  enough  incident,  for  Vansittart  by  common 
consent  was  not  a  strong  finance  minister.  Owen  adds : 
*'  The  tax  was  fourpence  per  pound,  and  he  said  he  would 
remit  the  whole,  except  to  the  amount  oF  a  small  portion 
of  a  penny,  which  he  said  would  be  retained  for  some 
Government  object  or  arrangement."  ^  This  statement 
is  not  quite  accurate.  The  tax  at  the  beginning  of  1815 
was  165.  lid.  per  100  lb.  (or  just  2d.  a  pound),  with 
an  extra  3^.  which  perhaps  stood  for  registration 
duty  ;  and  it  was  reduced  in  the  course  of  the  year 
to  8j.  ']d.  for  cotton  imported  in  British  ships,  or  id. 
the  pound  +  3^.  In  other  words  the  special  war  tax 
of  8j.  4^.  the  100  lb.  which  had  been  imposed  in  1803 
was  remitted.^ 

Owen's  efforts  on  behalf  of  the  children  were  not 
so  immediately  fruitful.  The  Government  expressed 
themselves  as  sympathetic,  but  they  would  not  take  up 
the  measure.  Owen  found  much  support,  however, 
amongst  members  of  both  Houses,  amongst  whom  Lord 
Tascclles,  the  eldest  son  of  Lord  Harewood,  is  specially 
named  as  having  ably  seconded  Owen's  efforts.^  It  was 
ultimately  agreed  to  ask  Sir  Robert  Peel  to  take  charge 

'  Autobiography,  Vol.  I.,  p.  115. 

'  Sec  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer's  speech  in  tiie  House  of 
Commons  March  15,  181 5,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  war  duties 
were  continued  on  every  article  except  cotton. 

^  Lord  Lascelles  afterwards  saw  reason  to  change  his  mind.  For  in 
ihc  df'batf^s  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  i8l8  he  is  one  of  the  most 
prominent  opponents  of  the  Bill. 


THE    FIRST   FACTORY   ACT  191 

of  the  Bill,  and  he  consented.  The  choice  was  a 
fortunate  one.  Sir  Robert  Peel,  father  of  the  well- 
known  statesman  of  that  name,  and  himself  the  son  of 
a  yeoman,  had  amassed  a  large  fortune  from  cotton- 
spinning.  In  consequence  of  some  abuses  which  had 
come  to  light  in  his  own  factory  some  sixteen  or 
seventeen  years  before,  and  which  had  caused  much 
scandal,  he  had  in  1802  introduced  and  succeeded 
in  passing  into  law  the  "  Health  and  Morals  of 
Apprentices  Act"  (42  George  III.  c.  73).  The  Act 
applied  only  to  apprentices,  i.e.  children  apprenticed 
from  the  workhouse — the  children  of  the  State — and 
its  chief  provisions  were  to  prohibit  nightwork  and 
to  limit  the  hours  of  labour  to  twelve  a  day.  The 
Act  also  made  provision  for  the  teaching  of  reading, 
writing,  and  arithmetic,  for  religious  instruction,  and  for 
the  periodical  whitewashing  of  factories. 

The  Bill  to  which  Sir  Robert  Peel,  at  Owen's  instance, 
undertook  to  act  as  foster-father  was  of  much  wider 
scope.  First  and  chiefly,  it  was  to  apply,  not  only  to 
those  children  who  were  the  special  charge  of  the  State, 
but  to  all  children  alike. 

It  provided  (a)  that  no  child  should  be  employed  in 
a  mill  or  factory  below  the  age  of  ten. 

(I?)  That  no  person  under  eighteen  should  be  em- 
ployed for  more  than  12J  hours  in  the  day,  of  which 
no  more  than  io|-  might  be  given  to  actual  work, 
leaving  li  for  meals  and  ^  for  instruction. 

(c)  The  12-i-  hours  were  to  be  comprised  between 
5  a.m  and  9  p.m. 

(<^)  Instruction  was  to  be  given  for  half  an  hour  a 
day  for  the  first  four  years. 


92 


ROBERT   OWEN 


(e)  The  justices  were  empowered  to  appoint  duly- 
qualified  iiispectors  and  to  pay  them  for  their  services/ 

The  Bill  was  introduced  on  June  6,  1815,  and 
Peel,  in  moving  the  first  reading,  explained  that  it  was 
only  an  experimental  measure,  not  intended  to  pass  that 
Session.  His  object  in  bringing  it  forward  at  this  time 
was  that  it  might  be  printed  and  circulated  for  the 
purposes  of  discussion  and  consideration. 

Nothing  more  was  done  that  year,  but  on  April  3 
of  the  following  year,  1816,  Sir  Robert  Peel  returned 
to  the  subject,  and  moved  the  appointment  of  a  Com- 
mittee to  take  evidence  and  report  upon  the  state  of 
children  employed  in  manufactories.  The  motion  was 
accepted,  the  Committee  was  appointed,  and  set  itself  at 
once  to  hear  evidence. 

In  the  interval  between  the  introduction  of  the  Bill 
and  the  appointment  of  the  Committee  in  the  following 
year,  Owen  had  proceeded  on  a  tour  of  inspection 
throughout  England  and  Scotland,  visiting  the  mills  in 
each  town  to  which  he  came,  for  the  purpose  apparently  of 
collecting  evidence  to  show  the  need  for  legislation.  On 
this  journey  he  was  accompanied  by  his  eldest  son,  then  a 
boy  of  about  fifteen.  Young  Owen  was  profoundly  and 
permanently  impressed  by  his  experiences  on  this  journey  ;^ 

'  I  have  taken  this  summary  of  the  chief  provisions  of  the  Bill  froin 
the  draft  printed  in  full  in  Vol.  Ia  of  Owen's  Autobiography,  pp.  23 
se(/g.  But  Sir  R.  Peel  in  introducing  the  Bill  into  the  House  of  Commons 
is  reported  (Hansard)  as  describing  provision  for  12^  hours,  of  which  ten 
were  to  be   given   to  work,  and    2^  to  meals   and  instruction. 

'  See  Threaditi^  my  Way,  pp.  loi,  102.  Robert  Dale  Owen  says  the 
journey  was  undertakt-n  in  the  summer  of  181  5,  and  Owen  himself  refers 
{Evidence,  p.  24)  to  the  journey  as  having  taken  place  in  the  previous  year, 
i.e.  181 5.  But  he  seems  to  have  vi.sitcd  Sid^wick'.-;  mill,  near  v^kipton, 
in  April,  18 16.     (See  Evidence,  p.  38 1). 


THE   FIRST   FACTORY   ACT  193 

and    no    doubt    the    travellers,  even  in  this    brief  visit, 
saw    and    heard    enough    to   justify,   in    the    eyes    of   a 
more     reasonable     posterity,     the     intervention     of    the 
strong    arm     of    the     law,     to     enforce    what    ordinary 
humanity    had   failed    to    persuade.     But    tactically    the 
journey    was    probably    a    mistake.     Owen's    position    as 
a  witness  on  his  own  ground  was  unique  and  practically 
unassailable.     He  had  demonstrated  in  his  own  factory — 
and    that    factory    worked     under    conditions    generally 
reckoned  the  most  adverse,  with  water,  that  is,  and  not 
steam    as    the    motive-power — that    it    was    possible    to 
shorten    the    hours    of  labour    and    to    restrict   the   em- 
ployment   of  young  children,  and    yet  to   make    profits 
sufficient  even  for  avarice.     But  for  a  master  manufacturer, 
however  pure  his  motives,  to  play  the  spy  on  the  con- 
ditions of  working  in    other    factories  was  an  invidious 
business.     And  after  all,  the  evidence  he  collected  was 
of  little  value  for  the  purpose  which  he  had  in  view — 
if  indeed  he  had  designed  to  place  it    before  the  Com- 
mittee   of    the    House   of    Commons.     He    could   give 
only  the  general    impressions    which    he   had  formed  in 
a  hurried  inspection   of  the    health  , or  ill-health  of  the 
children,    the    temperature    of    the    rooms,    the    ages    of 
those    employed.     And    on    the    last  point,   and  also  as 
regards  the  hours  worked,  he  was  necessarily  dependent 
almost  entirely  on  hearsay  evidence. 

Owen  was  the  most  important  witness  examined  by 
the  Committee  of  18 16,  having  appeared  before  it  no 
fewer  than  six  times,  whilst  his  evidence  occupies  as 
much  as  twenty-four  pages  of  the  Blue-book.  Much 
of  this  evidence  has  already  been  cited  in  previous 
chapters,  and  need  here  only  be  summarised.     He   told 

VOL.    I.  13 


194  ROBERT   OWEN 

the  Committee  that  he  employed  no  children  under  ten, 
and  would  prefer  to  raise  the  age  of  entrance  to  twelve, 
allowing  the  children,  however,  to  work  half-time  between 
ten  and  twelve.  The  hours  worked  at  New  Lanark 
were  ten  and  three-quarters  exclusive  of  meal-times, 
and  he  would  like  to  have  them  fixed  at  ten  or  at 
most  ten  and  a  half  a  day.  Before  the  age  of  ten, 
and  tor  halt  their  time  between  ten  and  twelve,  he 
would  have  the  childen  attend  school  ;  and  to  ensure  their 
doing  so,  he  would  insist  upon  an  adequate  educational 
test — in  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  and,  for  girls, 
in  sewing  also — as  a  condition  of  admission  to  work 
in  a  cotton-factory.  He  did  not  anticipate,  as  suggested 
by  various  members  of  the  Committee,  if  the  children 
were  not  allowed  to  work  until  ten  years  of  age,  and 
were  called  upon  to  work  only  ten  and  a  half  hours 
a  days  after  that  period,  that  their  abundant  leisure 
would  necessarily  lead  them  to  become  hopelessly  idle 
and  vicious.  Nor  did  he  regard  working-class  parents 
as  deficient  in  natural  affections,  or  admit  that  the 
limitation  by  law  of  ages  and  hours*  of  labour  for 
children  carried  with   it  that  implication. 

There  is  unfortunately  no  indication  of  the  particular 
members  of  the  Committee  who  asked  each  question  ; 
but  it  is  obvious  from  the  character  of  the  examination 
that  some  of  the  members  were  strongly  hostile  to 
Owen's  views,  and  that  he  was  unscrupulously  plied 
with  question  after  question,  in  the  hope  of  putting 
him  to  confusion.  Sometimes  it  would  seem  that  his 
opponents  succeeded  in  their  aim  ;  but  on  the  other 
hand,  he  occasionally  surprises  us  by  replies  of  unex- 
pected  pungency.      Thus,    when    repeatedly  and   unfairly 


THE   FIRST   FACTORY   ACT  195 

pressed  as  to  the  number  of  children  under  ten  years 
of  age  then  employed  in  manufactories  throughout  the 
Kingdom — a  point  upon  which  he  of  necessity  disclaimed 
any  accurate  information — he  ultimately  replied,  *'  I 
conceive  the  number  would  be  in  exact  {sc.  inverse) 
proportion  to  the  knowledge  which  the  proprietors 
have  of  their  own  interest,  and  the  interest  of  the 
children "  (p.  86).  Again,  after  having  emphatically 
expressed  his  opinion  that  the  health  of  the  children 
and  young  people  was  injured  by  the  long  hours  which 
they  were  compelled  to  work,  he  was  asked  : 

"  Do  you  not  conceive  that  it  is  injurious  to  the 
manufacturer  to  hazard,  by  overwork,  the  health  of  the 
people  he  employs  ? ''  His  reply  is  brief  and  to  the 
point  :  ''  If  those  persons  were  purchased  by  the  manu- 
facturer I  should  say  decisively,  '  yes  '  ;  but  as  they  are 
not  purchased  by  the  manufacturer,  and  the  country  must 
bear  all  the  loss  of  their  strength  and  their  energy,  it 
does  not  appear,  at  first  sight,  to  be  the  interest  of 
the  manufacturer  to  do  so,"  i.e.  to  spare  them  (p.   28). 

But  Owen  was  by  no  means  an  ideal  witness  for  the 
cause  which  he  had  at  heart.  There  was  more  than  one 
weak  point  in  his  armour,  of  which  his  enemies  did  not 
fail  to  take  advantage.  The  evidence  which  he  had 
collected  in  the  tour  of  inspection  above  referred  to  was 
not  of  a  kind  which  would  stand  critical  examination 
by  a  committee  of  experts.  His  statement,  for  instance, 
"that  he  observed  a  "  marked  and  decided  difference  in 
the  countenances  and  conduct  of  the  children  "  in 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  where  they  did  not  begin  work 
until  twelve  or  fourteen,  as  compared  with  the  children 
in  Manchester,  who  had  gone  to  the  mills  when  six  or 


196  ROBERT   OWEN 

seven  years  of  age,  may  or  may  not  have  been  well- 
founded,  but  was  not  calculated  to  impress  the  Committee. 
And  in  one  case  a  definite  statement  of  Owen's  was 
authoritatively  contradicted.  Owen  asserted,  as  a  fact 
within  his  knowledge,  that  on  the  first  introduction,  in 
the  previous  year,  of  the  Bill  a  number  of  children 
under  ten  years  of  age  had  been  discharged  from  mills 
throughout  the  country.  Pressed  to  give  a  particular 
instance,  he  named  Mr.  Sidgwick's  mills  at  Skipton,  and 
stated  that  he  had  received  information  to  that  effect 
from  the  lips  of  Sidgwick's  nephew.  At  a  later  date  he 
repeated  this  statement  (pp.  86  and  113).  Mr.  William 
Sidgwick,  junior,  in  his  examination,  read  to  the  Committee 
contemporary  notes  of  his  interview  with  Owen,  written 
for  the  information  of  his  uncle,  who  was  absent  at  the 
time  of  Owen's  visit.  In  these  notes  it  is  recorded  that 
only  one  child  under  ten  years  of  age  was  at  the  time 
of  Owen's  visit  employed  at  the  mill,  and  no  mention 
is  made  of  any  children  having  been  discharged.  In  his 
further  evidence  Mr.  Sidgwick  expressly  denied  that  any 
statement  to  that  effect  was  made  by  him  to  Owen,  or  that 
any  children  had  been  discharged  as  suggested  (pp.  381, 
382).  It  would  appear  probable,  therefore,  either  that 
Owen  misunderstood  something  said  by  Mr.  Sidgwick,  or 
that,  relying  as  he  apparently  did  on  his  memory,  he  had 
attached  the  incident  to  the  wrong  place  and  person — 
a  thing  which  might  easily  happen  in  the  course  of  a 
tour  of  some  weeks.  But  the  episode  no  doubt  had 
a  damaging  effect.^ 

'  The  charge  in  itself  was  probable  enough.  There  were  ugly  stories 
two  or  three  years  later  of  sickly  and  deformed  youtlis  having  been 
hxjrriedly  dismissed  from  certain  Manchester  cotton-mills  ;  of  the  children 
having  been  cleaned  up  and  the  men  ordered  to  shave  ;  the  rooms  scoured 


THE    FIRST    FACTORY   ACT  197 

Owen  was  also  open  to  attack  in  another  quarter. 
His  religious  views  were  by  this  time  becoming  notorious, 
and  his  enemies  did  not  scruple  to  use  the  weapon  thus 
placed  in  their  hands.  He  was  questioned  as  to  the 
religious  instruction  given  to  the  children  at  New  Lanark  ; 
as  to  their  attendance  at  Sunday  school  and  at  church  ; 
as  to  their  examination  in  the  Bible  and  Catechism  ; 
and  as  to  his  own  private  religious  opinions.  Little  of 
this  examination  appears  in  the  published  minutes  of 
evidence  (see  p.  26).  But  Owen  tells  us  that  he  had 
to  submit  to  a  long  and  vindictive  cross-examination 
from  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir  George)  Philips,  one  of  the 
wealthy  cotton-spinners  on  the  Committee,  on  his  private 
opinions  and  beliefs.  The  animus  was  so  manifest,  and 
the  tone  of  the  questioner  so  insolent,  that  Owen's  son, 
who  accompanied  his  father  to  the  meetings  of  the 
Committee,  was  unable  to  hold  back  his  tears.  It  appears 
that  on  the  motion  of  Lord  Brougham  the  record  of 
this  impertinent  episode  was  expunged  from  the  minutes.^ 

The  part  of  his  evidence,  however,  which  aroused 
the  keenest  interest  at  the  time,  and  later,  in  the  debates 
in  both  Houses  on  the  Bill  and  in  the  warfare  by 
newspapers  and  pamphlets  outside,  gave  rise  to  the  most 

and  the  windows  opened  to  reduce  the  temperature — all  in  preparation 
for  an  inspection  of  the  factories  by  some  medical  man  selected  for  the 
purpose  by  the  proprietors.  (See  Evidence  before  the  Lords'  Committee  of 
1819,  pp.  181-216.) 

^  Autobiography^  Vol.  I.,  p.  121.  Threading  my  Way,  p.  103.  Owen 
;adds  that  the  opponents  of  the  Bill  sent  emissaries  down  to  New  Lanark 
to  interview  the  parish  minister  and  other  persons,  with  a  view  of 
obtaining  damaging  evidence  as  to  his  "infidelity"  and  other  unpopular 
opinions.  Owen  probably  exaggerated  the  importance  of  the  enterprise, 
which  in  any  case  seems  legitimate  enough  in  political  warfare  of  this 
kind.  At  any  rate  nothing  came  of  it.  {S&q. Autobiography,  Vol.  I.,  pp. 
117-20.) 


198  ROBERT   OWEN 

embittered  controversy,  was  that  which  dealt  with  the 
economic  effect  of  the  shortened  hours  of  labour. 
Owen's  statements  on  this  point  are  not  very  expHcit. 
He  moved  in  a  different  world  from  that  of  the  wealthy 
cotton-spinners  who  tried  to  browbeat  him  before  the 
Committee.  Neither  he  nor  his  later  partners  were 
concerned  exclusively  with  money-getting  and  the  risks 
of  foreign  competition.  He  was  profoundly  impressed 
with  the  evils  which  the  mad  race  for  wealth  had  already 
brought  upon  the  workers,  and  in  his  publication  of 
January,  i^^i5,  already  referred  to,  he  had  written — 
"  Perish  the  cotton  trade,  perish  even  the  political 
superiority  of  our  country  (if  it  depends  on  the  cotton 
trade),  rather  than  they  shall  be  upheld  by  the  sacrifice 
of  everything  valuable  in  life  by  those  who  are  the  means 
of  supporting  them."  ^ 

When  therefore  the  Committee  asked  him  whether 
the  manufacturers  would  not  be  likely  to  suffer  loss  in 
consequence  of  the  shortened  hours,  he  replied  with 
cheerful  and  indifferent  optimism.  When  questioned, 
further,  what  benefits  he  expected  from  the  measure,  he 
made  answer,  "  A  very  considerable  improvement  in  the 
health  of  the  operatives,  both  young  and  old  ;  a  very 
considerable  improvement  in  the  instruction  of  the  rising 
generation  ;  and  a  very  considerable  diminution  in  the 
poor  rates  of  the  country." "  A  man  who  could  so 
lightly  contemplate  interference  with  England's  monopoly 
of  the  world's  markets,  for  the  sake  of  anything  so 
irrelevant  as  the  honour  of  the  country,  or  the  education 

'  From  the  sjiecch  at  the  Glasgow  Meeting,  Autobiography,  Vol.  Ia, 
p.   18. 

'  See  Evidence,  p.  21. 


cr('//    y 


r^ 


/    r^/ 


A..,^-,    ,„■,■,.       .v,,./ ,,/../// ^' 

From  a  Ittltogiapli  in  llie  Hrilish  Miiscitni  (tirnhxlcd). 
ROBERT   OWEN. 


A     iOR,  Li'.NOX  A.ND        i 


THE   FIRST   FACTORY   ACT  199 

and  well-being  of  the  children  of  the  poor,  was  clearly 
dangerous  in  the  eyes  of  men  who  had  long  ago,  in 
Lord  Salisbury's  phrase,  written  these  things  off  their 
books  as  unmarketable  commodities.  At  any  rate  the 
Committee  seem  to  have  judged  it  best  after  the  last 
answer  to  let  him  alone  for  the  time. 

Later,  however,  they  returned  to  the  subject,  and 
Owen  was  closely  questioned  as  to  the  exact  effects  of 
the  shortened  hours  upon  the  product  of  his  own  mills. 
The  hours  at  New  Lanark  had  been  reduced,  it  will 
be  remembered,  from  eleven  and  three-quarters  to 
ten  and  three-quarters  a  day  on  January  i ,  1 8 1 6,  so 
that  at  the  time  of  this  examination.  May  7  of  the  same 
year,  the  new  arrangement  had  only  been  working  for 
about  four  months.  Owen  explained  in  answer  to 
questions  that  the  difference  in  the  amount  produced 
was  much  less  in  proportion  than  the  difference  in  the 
hours  worked,  and  according  to  his  calculations  "  the 
present  loss  is  not  more  than  one  farthing  in  twenty 
pence."  He  added  that  a  daily  return  of  the  actual 
quantity  of  yarn  spun  had  been  kept  for  years  past, 
and  that  these  returns  showed  a  gradual  increase  in  the 
produce  from  January  i  up  to  the  date  at  which  he 
was  speaking.  Owen  spoke  from  memory,  as  he  had  not 
got  these  returns  by  him  at  the  time,  and  unfortunately 
they  were  not  afterwards  put  in  as  evidence.  Asked  how 
he  accounted  for  the  fact  that  the  falling  off  in  the  daily 
product  was  less  proportionately  than  the  reduction  in 
hours  of  working,  he  replied  that  he  attributed  it  to 
the  effect  of  the  shortened  hours  on  the  physical  and 
moral  well-being  of  the  operatives.  Coming  to  details, 
he   explained  that  the  machinery  would    be    worked    at 


200  ROBERT   OWEN 

a  higher  rate,  in  proportion  as  the  workpeople  were  more 
active  and  attentive  to  their  duties.  He  was  unable  to 
say  whether  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  pace  of  the 
machinery  at  New  Lanark  had  been  quickened  since 
the  beginning  of  the  year.  Even  without  such  quickening, 
however,  he  considered  that  "  a  larger  quantity  may  be 
produced  by  a  greater  attention  of  the  hands  while  the 
machinery  is  at  work,  in  preventing  breakage  and  by 
not  losing  any  time  in  commencing  in  the  morning,  at 
meals,  or  when  stopping  at  night  ;  from  the  greater 
desire  of  the  individuals  to  perform  their  duty  con- 
scientiously ;  from  the  great  wish  to  make  up  for  any 
supposed  or  probable  loss  that  the  proprietors  might 
sustain  in  consequence  of  giving  this  amelioration  to  the 
workpeople  ;  such  conduct  to  workpeople  is  the  most 
likely  to  make  them  conscientious,  and  to  obtain  more 
from  them  than  when  they  are  forced  to  do  their  duty."  ^ 

The  impression  produced  by  his  answers  is  that  he 
had  not  thought  out  this  aspect  of  the  subject  :  that  he 
was  in  tact  tolerably  indifferent,  singular  as  such  a  per- 
version of  sentiment  must  have  appeared  to  his  brother 
manufacturers,  to  economic  niceties  of  the  kind.  The 
mills  at  any  rate  produced,  and  were  likely  to  continue 
to  produce,  a  surplus  sufficiently  large  to  satisfy  himself 
and  his  new  partners  ;  and  they  were  content  that  the 
workers  should  share  in  the  benefit,  without  enquiring 
too  closely  into  the  balance  of  profit  and   loss." 

The  Committee  of  1 8 1 6  presented  no  report  to  the 
House,  and   no  further  action   was  taken  on  the  Bill  until 

'  Evidence,  p.  94. 

'  Some  later   fif^^res  showing   the  effect  of  the  siiortened  hours   on 
production  are  quoted  above  pp.  164,  16$. 


THE   FIRST   FACTORY   ACT  201 

1 81 8,  when  it  was  again  introduced  by  Sir  Robert  Peel. 
Owen  ascribes  this  untimely  delay  to  Sir  Robert's  desire 
to  conciliate  his  brother  manufacturers  ;  and  Samuel  Kydd 
takes  the  same  view.^  Sir  Robert  Peel  himself  explained 
the  delay  as  due  to  his  own  ill-health  ;  and  it  is 
perhaps  not  inconsistent  with  the  view  held  by  Owen 
and  Kydd  that  the  opponents  of  the  Bill  professed  them- 
selves unwilling  to  accept  the  plea  of  ill-health  as  an 
adequate  explanation  of  the  delay  in  proceeding  with  the 
measure.^  At  any  rate  the  Bill  ultimately  passed  through 
the  House  of  Commons  in  the  Session  of  181 8,  the 
second  reading  being  carried  by  a  majority  of  91  to  26. 

But  when  the  Bill  reached  the  Upper  House  their 
Lordships  professed  themselves  not  satisfied  that  the 
need  for  any  such  restrictive  legislation  had  been  made 
out,  and  proceeded  after  some  delay  to  appoint  a 
Committee  of  their  own,  which  sat  and  heard  evidence 
in   181 8  and  the  following  year. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  our  present  purpose  to  enter 
at  length  into  the  history  of  this  piece  of  legislation, 
or  to  analyse  the  evidence  adduced  before  the  Lords' 
Committee  of  1818  and  18 19.  Owen's  personal  efforts 
on  behalf  of  the  Bill  came  to  an  end  with  the  Committee 
of  1 81 6,  his  activities  after  that  year,  as  will  appear  in 
subsequent  chapters,  being  diverted  into  other  channels.^ 

^  Owen's  Autobiography,  Vol.  I.,  p.  ii6;  History  of  the  Factory 
Movement,  by  "Alfred,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  44. 

'  Remarks  were  made  in  the  House  of  Commons  to  this  effect.  See 
also  Lord  Lauderdale's  speech  in  the  House  of  Lords  on  May  14,  1818. 

'  In  March,  181 8,  however,  he  published  two  letters,  addressed 
respectively  to  Lord  Liverpool  and  to  British  master  manufacturers,  on  the 
Employment  of  Children  in  Factories  {Life,  Vol.  I  a,  pp.  185,  197),  in 
which  he  recapitulated  his  arguments.  His  work  in  this  connection  was, 
however,  as  he  tells  us,  taken  up  by  Gould,  Oastler,  and  others  after  18 16. 


202  ROBERT   OWEN 

And  in  any  case  Owen  could  give  no  evidence  of  value 
as  to  the  existence  of  the  abuses  which  the  Bill  was 
intended  to  remedy.  The  passage  of  the  Bill  was 
stubbornly  contested  in  both  Houses  and  in  the  outside 
Press.  The  arguments  of  its  opponents  may  be  briefly 
summed   up   under  five   main   heads. 

(i)  That  no  case  had  been  made  out  for  the  Bill, 
and  that  the  majority  of  masters  were  already  doing 
of  their  own  free  will  all  that  the  Bill  required. 

As  regards  the  prohibition  of  night-duty,  this  was 
probably  true.  Since  the  introduction  of  the  steam- 
engine  there  was  no  longer  the  same  necessity  for 
economising  the  motive-power.  Moreover,  mills  were 
more  commonly  erected  in  large  towns,  and  all-night 
working  had  ceased  to  be  fashionable.  Owen's  neighbour, 
Finlay,  a  well-known  Glasgow  mill-owner,  replying  to 
Sir  Robert  PeeFs  motion  for  the  appointment  of  the 
Committee  of  1816,  said  that  in  Scotch  mills  the  children 
did  not  begin  work  until  ten  years  of  age.  But  they 
certainly  began  much  earlier  in  Lancashire.  As  to  the 
healthiness  of  the  cotton-factories,  the  evidence  adduced 
by  the  masters  proved  too  much.  The  death-rate  in 
Finlay's  mill,  for  instance,  was  given  as  a  little  over  two 
per  thousand.  As  Peel  the  younger  said  in  the  House, 
if  we  were  to  accept  such  statistics  as  relevant,  the  logical 
issue  would  be  for  the  Government  to  build  cotton-mills 
to  act  as  sanatoria — for  the  average  mill  seemed  at  least 
six  times  as  healthy  as  what  had  hitherto  been  deemed 
the  most  salubrious  spots  in  the  Kingdom.^ 

(2)  The  Bill  sought  to  establish  a  new  principle,  by 
intervening  between  parent  and  child.  It  must  then 
'  Hansard,  April  27,  181 8. 


THE    FIRST   FACTORY   ACT  203 

necessarily  weaken  the  authority  of  the  parents,  and  cast 
an  undeserved  stigma  upon  them,  by  accusing  them 
indirectly  of  avarice  and  cruelty.^ 

(3)  England's  predominance  in  the  markets  of  the 
world  would  be  endangered. 

(4)  Wages  must  be  reduced  pari  passu  with  the 
proposed  reduction  of  the  hours — or  at  an  even  greater 
rate  to  allow  of  the  capitalist  recouping  himself  for 
the  diminished  returns  from  his  capital  expenditure^ — 
and  hence  increased  poverty  and  wretchedness  would  be 
the  direct  result  of  this  short-sighted  measure. 

(5)  "  All  experience  proves  that  in  the  lower  orders 
the  deterioration  of  morals  increases  with  the  quantity 
of  unemployed  time  of  which  they  have  the  command." 
Thus  by  shortening  the  hours  of  labour,  the  Bill 
"  necessarily  tends  to  produce  immorality  and  crime 
among  the  adults."  Nay,  these  tender-hearted  employers 
were  much  concerned  for  the  future  of  the  children 
themselves,  if  they  should  be  left  in  idleness  and  vice 
until  the  mature  age  of  ten,  instead  of  being  placed  from 
their  earliest  years  under  the  wholesome  discipline  of 
the   factory.^ 

^  "  The  Bill  went  to  say  that  poor  parents  were  not  to  be  entrusted 
with  the  management  of  their  own  children." — Mr.  Curwen  in  the  House 
of  Commons. 

The  Bill  would  bring  disunion  between  master  and  workman  and 
between  parent  and  child — "What  effect  must  it  have  upon  a  child 
to  perceive  that  those  to  whom  his  interests  ought  to  be  most  dear 
were  not  considered  by  the  Legislature  as  fit  to  be  trusted  with  the 
regulation  of  his  conduct." — Lord  Stanley  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
April,  27,  1818. 

*  Evidence  of  1816,  p.  167. 

'  Thus  Owen  is  asked  by  the  Committee  of  \Zi6  {Report,  p.  23),  "  Would 
not  there  be  a  danger  [if  the  children  are  not  employed  in  the  mills  before 
ten]  of  their  acquiring  by  that  time  vicious  habits,  for  want  of  regular  occupa- 
tion ?  "  This  and  the  other  arguments  summarised  in  the  text  are  reproduced 


204  ROBERT   OWEN 

The  arguments  under  the  headings  (2),  (3),  and  (4) 
had,  it  must  be  admitted,  some  weight.  Everything 
depended,  therefore,  upon  the  evidence  adduced  to  show 
the  need  for  legislative  restriction,  and  that  evidence, 
to  the  dispassionate  enquirer  of  a  later  date,  seems 
conclusive. 

(a)  As  to  the  age  at  which  the  children  were 
employed,  a  Committee  of  Manchester  mill-owners 
put  before  the  Lords'  Committee  of  1818  lists  of  all 
the  persons  employed  in  their  mills,  showing  in  each 
case  the  age  at  the  time  ot  the  census,  the  age  at 
entry,  and  the  state  of  health,  etc.,  of  the  person 
employed.  These  lists,  prepared  in  the  interests  of 
the  masters,  may  be  supposed  to  show  the  case  at  any 
rate  not  at  the  worst.  P>om  an  analysis  of  the  figures 
it  appears  that  of  the  4,938  persons  employed  in  these 
selected  mills  at  the  time  of  the  census  (about  April, 
1818),  80  were  under  nine  years  of  age,  764  between 
nine  and  eleven  ;  and  2,896,  or  nearly  three-fifths  of 
the  whole  number,  were  still  under  twenty  years  of 
age.  Further,  of  these  4,938  persons,  no  fewer  than 
1,658,  or  one-third  of  the  whole  number,  had  begun 
work  in  a  cotton-mill  below  nine  years  of  age,  and 
another  third  between  that  age  and  eleven.^ 

again  and  again  in  the  debates  and  in  the  pamphlet  literature  of  the 
period.  The  quotation  in  the  text  under  heading  (5)  is  from  an  anonymous 
pamphlet  published  in  London  in  1818  entitled  An  Inquiry  into  the 
Principles  and  Tendency  of  the  Bill,  etc.,  which  gives  an  able  and  exhaustive 
statement  of  the  arguments  and  evidence  relied  upon  by  the  opponents  of 
legislation. 

'  The  figures  themselves  arc  given  in  the  appendices  to  the  evidence 
taken  before  the  Committee  of  1818:  the  summary  and  analysis  given 
in  the  text  are  quoted  from  an  anonymous  pamphlet,  Ohstniations 
as  to  ages  of  persons  employed  in  the  Cotton  Mills  in  Manchester, 
1819. 


THE   FIRST  FACTORY   ACT  205 

(b)  As  to  the  hours  of  duty,  Sir  Robert  Peel  stated 
in  moving  the  appointment  of  the  Committee  of  18 16, 
that  the  hours  of  work  were  often  fifteen  or  sixteen 
a  day/  and  the  evidence  taken  before  that  and  subsequent 
Committees  abundantly  confirmed  this  statement. 

In  view  of  these  two  salient  facts — the  tender  age 
at  which  children  habitually  began  to  work,  and  the 
long  hours  of  confinement  in  close  rooms  at  a  high 
temperature  day  after  day  and  year  after  year,  medical 
evidence  as  to  the  effects  on  health  and  physique  would 
seem  hardly  necessary.  Nevertheless  there  were  many 
medical  men  found  to  testify,  in  the  interests  of  the 
masters,  to  the  healthy  nature  of  the  employment.  One 
medical  man,  Dr.  Edward  Holme,  stated  before  the 
Committee  of  1 8 1 8  that  he  could  not  say  that  it  would 
be  more  injurious  for  a  child  to  work  in  the  mills  by 
night  than  in  the  daytime  ;  nor  that  the  health  of  young 
children  would  be  likely  to  suffer  from  standing  twelve 
hours  a  day  at  their  work  ;  nor  from  eating  their  meals 
whilst  so  standing  and  working. 

Another,    Thomas   Wilson,    did  not   think  it  likely 

to  be  injurious  to  the  health  of  a  thinly  clad  child,  after 

working   twelve    hours    in    a  room  at  a  temperature  of 

seventy-six  degrees,  to  come  out  into  a  winter    night  ; 

nor  that  the  health  of  the  children  was  likely   to  suffer 

from    constantly    breathing    and    taking    their    meals  in 

an    atmosphere    heavily    charged    with  cotton- fluff;    nor 

that  the  continual  spitting  to  get  rid  of  the    fluff  was 

likely  to  prove  prejudicial. 

*  Hansard,  April  3,  1816.  In  fairness  to  the  masters  it  should 
be  stated  that  the  fifteen  or  sixteen  hours'  daily  attendance  at  the  factory 
usually  included  certain  intervals  for  meals,  at  any  rate  for  adults.  The 
children  were  frequently  left  to  clean  the  machinery  in  the  dinner  hour. 


2o6  ROBERT   OWEN 

More  than  one  witness  deposed  that  the  children 
employed  under  such  conditions  in  the  cotton-mills 
were  as  healthy,  or  healthier  than  children  in  any  other 
occupation,   not  excepting  agriculture.^ 

But  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  pursue  the  subject, 
or  to  repeat  the  evidence  in  favour  of  the  Bill.  An 
outline  of  the  nature  of  the  facts  brought  forward  in 
1816  to  prove  the  injurious  effect  of  the  long  hours  and 
general  conditions  of  the  work  upon  the  health  of  the 
children  has  been  already  given  in  Chapter  IV.  Addi- 
tional facts  and  figures  of  a  like  nature  were  adduced 
before  the  Committees  of  181  8  and  1819,  to  strengthen 
a  case  already  sufficiently  damning.  The  accumulation 
of  evidence  was  at  length  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  House 
of  Lords  that  there  was  need  of  legislation.  The  Bill 
finally  passed  into  law  in  the  summer  of  18 19;  but 
its  original  provisions  had  been  whittled  down  to 
conciliate  the  forces  of  the  opposition.  The  draft 
measure  of  1 8 1 5  was  intended  to  apply  to  ^'  cotton, 
woollen,  flax  and  other  mills."  But  the  Act  of  18 19 
applied  to  cotton-mills  only.  The  lower  limit  of  age 
for  the  employment  of  children  was  in  the  event  fixed 
at  nine  years,  instead  of  ten,  and  the  children  ceased 
to  be  "  young  persons  "  at  sixteen  instead  of  eighteen 
years  of  age.  The  hours  of  labour  of  such  young 
persons  were  to  be  twelve  instead  of  ten  and  a  halt  a  day, 
exclusive  of  meal  times.  The  provision  for  education 
was  cut  out  altogether.  The  masters  generally  had  no 
desire  to  work  their  mills  at   night,  and  so   the  principle 

'  See  especially  the  first  sixty  pages  of  evidence  tendered  before 
the  Lords'  Committee  of  1818,  and  evidence  of  Bingley  and  Keighley 
doctors  quoted  before  the  Committee  of  1816  {Repent,  p.  15). 


THE  FIRST   FACTORY   ACT  207 

of  working  by  day  only  was  allowed  to  pass  unchallenged. 
The  hours  within  which  work  was  permitted  were  fixed 
at  5  a.m.  to  9  p.m. 

But  perhaps  the  most  serious  alteration  from  the 
original  draft  was  in  the  provision  for  enforcing  the  due 
observance  of  the  law.  It  was  notorious  that  the  Act 
of  1 802  had  been  in  many  parts  of  Great  Britain  a  dead 
letter,  because  of  the  inadequate  provision  for  inspection 
and  the  inadequate  penalties  prescribed.  The  duty  of 
seeing  that  the  law  was  obeyed  had  by  that  Act  been 
imposed  upon  visitors  appointed  by  the  justices  of 
the  peace,  one  of  whom  should  be  a  justice  and 
one  a  clergyman.  Naturally  many  of  the  mill- 
owners  themselves  sat  on  the  bench,  and  the  visiting 
justice  and  clergyman  were  not  likely  to  be  too 
hard  on  their  friends  and  neighbours,  especially  as 
they  received  no  payment  for  their  rather  unpleasant 
duties. 

In  Scotland  the  magistrates  had  gone  so  far  as  to 
disregard  the  Act  of  1802  altogether — the  only  excuse 
tendered  for  non-compliance  with  the  law  being  that 
Epiphany  and  Midsummer,  the  dates  mentioned  for  the 
appointment  of  visitors  and  the  returns,  were  terms 
unknown  in  Scottish  procedure.  The  one  exception 
was  Owen's  own  county  of  Lanark,  and  that  exception 
applied  only  to  a  single  year.  In  June,  1 810,  the  Quarter 
Sessions  of  the  Lower  Ward  of  Lanarkshire  appointed 
a  visiting  committee  of  eight,  who  reported  a  year 
later  that  they  had  inspected  several  mills,  and  found 
that  the  requirements  of  the  Act  as  regards  periodical 
whitewashing,  the  exhibition  of  a  copy  of  the  Act,  the 
hours  of  labour,  and    the  attendance  at  divine  service, 


2o8  ROBERT   OWEN 

were  not  being  observed.  Thereupon  the  clerk  of  the 
peace  was  duly  empowered,  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  the  Act,  to  levy  upon  the  offending  owners, 
each  of  whom  was  probably  making  a  profit  reckoned 
by  thousands  or  tens  of  thousands  a  year,  a  fine  of 
two  guineas  !  ^ 

In  order  that  this  legislative  farce  might  not  be 
repeated,  a  clause  was  inserted  in  the  original  draft  of 
1815  empowering  the  justices  in  quarter  sessions  to 
appoint  any  duly  qualified  persons,  not  having  an 
interest  in  the  mills,  to  act  as  inspectors,  and  to  pay 
them  for  their  services.  In  introducing  the  Bill  in  1815 
Peel  explained  to  the  House  that  the  inspection  made 
under  the  Act  of  1 802  had  been  very  remiss,  and 
laid  stress  upon  the  necessity  for  appointing  properly 
qualified  and  paid  inspectors.  But  in  the  Act  finally 
passed  in  1819  no  provision  whatever  was  made  for 
inspection,  and  the  recovery  of  the  penalties  prescribed 
was  left  to  the  common   informer. 

With  the  sting  thus  taken  out,  the  Act  of  1819 
appears  to  have  been  little  more  efl^ective  than  its 
predecessor.  It  was  not  until  1833,  when,  under  the 
Act  of  that  year,  provision  was  made  for  the  appoint- 
ment by  the  Government  of  paid  inspectors,  that  it  was 
found  practicable  to  give  full  effect  to  the  intentions 
of  the  Legislature.  But  the  Act  of  1819  marks  the 
first — and  the  most  important — step  in  the  long  pro- 
cession of  Factory  Acts.  Under  it  for  the  first  time 
the    State   assumed    the    rights  of   parent    and    guardian 

•  Account  of  Cation  and  IVoollen  Mills  and  Factories  .  .  .  entered 
at  the  Epiphany  Sessions  in  each  year  from  1S03  to  181 8,  H.  L.,  1819^ 
Vol.   XIII. 


THE    FIRST    FACTORY    ACT  209 

to  the  children  of  the  free,  and  took  upon  itself  to 
prescribe  their  hours  of  work  and  the  general  conditions 
of  their  labour.  Of  the  long  struggle  that  followed, 
decade  after  decade  almost  down  to  our  own  day,  there 
is  no  need  to  speak  here.  Owen  had  no  share  in  the 
later  legislation. 

But  it  may  be  claimed  for  him  that  he  first  forced 
the  State  to  open  its  eyes  to  the  new  duties  which  the 
changing  circumstances  of  the  time  were  thrusting  upon 
it  :  that  he  was  in  fact  the  pioneer  of  factory  legislation 
in  this  country.  The  record  on  this  point  is  clear  ; 
though,  as  with  his  services  to  the  cause  of  education, 
Owen's  own  later  career  has  obscured  the  fame  which 
is  his  due.  We  have  seen,  first,  what  measures  he  had 
taken,  as  soon  as  his  hands  were  free,  to  lighten  the 
labours  of  the  children  in  his  own  mills  at  New  Lanark. 
We  have  seen,  next,  that  in  his  speech  at  Glasgow  in 
January,  1815,  and  in  his  pamphlet  published  later  in 
the  same  year,  he  proposed  legislation  on  the  precise 
lines  afterwards  embodied  in  the  Bill  introduced  by 
Sir  Robert  Peel  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  June, 
1 81 5.  That  Owen  was  directly  responsible  for  the 
drafting  of  that  Bill,  and  for  its  introduction  by  Peel, 
is  sufficiently  proved  by  the  numerous  references  to 
him  in  the  debates  and  in  the  outside  press.  The 
friends  of  the  Bill  were  silent,  indeed,  except  when 
directly  challenged,  on  Owen's  share  in  the  matter  ;  but 
its  opponents  were  proportionately  insistent  upon  giving 
him  the  credit  of  the  measure. 

The  reason  is  obvious.  When,  in  18 15,  Owen  first 
commenced  the  agitation  on  the  subject,  he  was  known 
to     the    world   as    a    philanthropic    mill-owner,    and    an 

VOL.    I.  14 


2IO  ROBERT   OWEN 

enthusiast  in  the  cause  of  popular  education  ;  a  man 
who  preached  social  reform,  and  who  gave  unsparingly 
of  his  time  and  means  in  order  to  practise  what  he 
preached.  But  when  the  Bill  came  before  the  House 
for  serious  consideration  in  1818,  Owen's  name  un- 
fortunately stood  for  something  more  than  this.  He 
had  shocked  the  conventionally  religious  by  his  tervid 
denunciation  of  all  the  creeds  ;  and  by  the  extravagance 
of  his  remedies  for  social  evils  he  had  repelled  the 
sympathies  of  many  whose  religious  prejudices  were 
unaffected.  Lord  Lascelles,  therefore,  in  opposing  the 
Bill/  thought  it  well  to  remind  the  House  that  the 
measure  did  not  originate  with  Sir  Robert  Peel,  but 
with  a  gentleman  who  had  for  the  last  twelve  months 
"  made  much  noise  in  the  public  prints,"  and  who  had 
said,  from  his  own  experience  at  New  Lanark,  that  a 
reduction  in  the  hours  of  labour,  so  far  from  diminishing 
the  product  rather  tended  to  increase  it — a  proposition 
beyond  Lord  Lascelles'  powers  of  comprehension.  Peel 
the  younger  in  replying  urged  that  Lascelles  ought  not 
to  oppose  the  Bill  because  a  gentleman  with  speculative 
opinions  in  political  economy  was  supposed  to  have 
brought  it  forward.  '^  Whether  that  gentleman  was 
concerned  in  it  or  not  was  a  matter  of  indifference  to 
him  (the  speaker)  and  he  called  upon  the  House  not 
to  reject  a  judicious  measure,  because  it  might  have 
the  misfortune  to  be  supported  by  an  indiscreet 
advocate." " 

Again,  in  the  House  of  Lords  on  February  25,  1S19, 
the    Earl  of   Lauderdale,   in   opposing   the   Bill,  said   that 

'  Hansard  for  April  27,   1818,  p.  351. 
•  Loc.  cit.,  p.  352. 


THE   FIRST   FACTORY  ACT  211 

*'  Sir  Robert  Peel  had  never  thought  of  this  measure  until 
Mr.  Owen  had  recommended  it  to  him."  ^ 

Again,  the  writer  of  a  pamphlet  against  the  Bill, 
already  quoted,  says  :  "  Late  years  have  been  wonder- 
fully prolific  of  ostentatious  and  useless  schemes  of 
philanthropy,  from  Member  Evans  and  his  nation  of 
happy  landholders,  to  Mr.  Owen  with  the  Millennium 
dawning  over  the  ruins  of  Christianity  in  a  cotton-mill." 
The  Bill  "  is  in  truth  a  part  of  Mr.  Owen's  dreams  ;  he 
was  its  father,  though  Sir  Robert  Peel  has  graciously 
become  its  god-father  and  taken  upon  himself  the  dis- 
charge of  the  parental  duties.  Such  a  descent  might 
justify  us  in  expecting  a  few  extravagances  in  the 
child,  but  the  reality  has  far  exceeded  our  expecta- 
tions." ^ 

And  though  Owen  in  later  years  forsook  the  battle- 
field, and  betook  himself  to  a  cloudy  land  where  the 
laws  of  political  economy  do  not  operate,  it  should  not 
be  forgotten  that  the  first  victory  in  the  long  campaign 
was  due  to  him,  so  far  at  least  as  any  achievement  of 
the  kind  can  be  credited  to  the  efforts  and  example  of 
any  single  man.^ 

^  Hansard,  loc.  cit.,  p.  655. 

'  An  Inquiry  into  the  Priiiciplesand  Tendency  of  the  Bill,  etc.^  London, 
1818,  p.  31. 

^  Owen  was  actually  the  occasion  of  another  minor  piece  of  factory 
legislation.  On  November  26,  18 19,  one  of  the  mills  at  New  Lanark 
was  burnt  down  {Times,  December  2,  18 19).  On  December  7,  Sir  R.  Peel 
introduced  a  Bill  to  allow  of  working  by  night  in  cotton-factories  so  as 
to  prevent  loss  of  employment,  after  a  fire  or  other  accident.  Lord 
A.  Hamilton  and  Finlay  both  taunted  the  mover  with  introducing  the 
Bill  specially  to  meet  Owen's  case.  The  Bill  passed  into  law  in  the 
following  year  (60  George  IIL  c.  5). 


CHAPTER    X 
FOR    THE    UNEMPLOYED 

IN  July,  1815,  the  long  war  came  to  an  end.  But 
peace  did  not  at  once  bring  plenty  to  these  islands. 
Throughout  the  twenty  years  of  war  Great  Britain  had 
held  the  lion's  share  of  the  carrying  trade  and  the 
commerce  of  the  world.  Her  crafts  and  manufactures 
had  thriven  on  the  distress  and  poverty  of  the  Continent  : 
her  wares  had  almost  monopolised  the  European  market. 
But  now  all  this  was  changed.  The  Continental  industries 
revived,  and  Britain's  foreign  trade  was  proportionately 
curtailed.  Further,  the  island  labour  market  was  dis- 
turbed by  the  sudden  disbandment  of  the  huge  military 
and  naval  forces,  and  the  return  to  domestic  industries 
of  some  200,000  able-bodied  men.  Thus  a  shrinking 
market  coincided  with  an  enormous  influx  of  unskilled 
labourers.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  wages  rapidly 
fell  and  that  distress  and  hunger  were  felt  throughout 
the  land  for  some  years  to  come. 

Wages  fell  most  rapidly  in  agriculture  and  in  the 
textile  trades  :  in  some  cases  they  were  reduced  in  a 
twelvemonth  to  less  than  half  their  former  amount. 
Thus  the  wages  of  weavers  in  Bolton  fell  from  14J.  in 
1815  to  I2J.  in  1816  and  95.  in  1817;  in  Forfarshire 
they    fell   from    13J.    in   181 5    to    6j.  in    1817  ;  and   in 


FOR   THE   UNEMPLOYED  213 

Glasgow  during  the  same  period  from  lis.  Gd.  to  5J.  Gd. 
Exact  particulars  of  the  wages  of  agricultural  labourers 
are  more  difficult  to  ascertain,  because  at  this  time  the 
less  than  living  wage  paid  by  the  farmer  was  commonly 
supplemented  out  of  the  poor  rates.  But  near  Glasgow 
the  wages  of  labourers  fell  from  lu.  a  week  in  18 16  to 
7i.  Gd,  in  1 81 9;  in  Middlesex  they  remained  at  15^. 
until  1 8 1 8,  and  fell  rapidly  after  that  year  until  they 
stood  at  \os.  in  1822.^  To  add  to  the  disturbance  of 
industrial  conditions  and  general  distress  which  the  con- 
clusion of  the  war  must  inevitably  have  brought  in  its 
train,  the  summer  of  18 16  proved  exceptionally  wet, 
and  the  price  of  corn  rose  rapidly.  It  had  stood  at  63J. 
a  quarter  in  181 5  ;  it  rose  in  1816  to  76^.,  and  in  the 
following  year  to  94^.  Concurrently  the  gross  amount 
of  the  poor  rates,  which  had  been,  in  round  numbers, 
^5,400,000  in  1815,  rose  in  181 7  to  _£6, 900,000,  and 
in  1 8 1 8  to  ^7,870,000.^  Numbers  of  people  were  thrown 
out  of  employment  and  reduced  to  penury  and  starvation. 
Owen  tells  us  that  though  he  was  able  to  keep  the  mills 
at  New  Lanark  working,  he  had  to  turn  away  daily  many 
applicants  for  work  whom  he  was  unable  to  help. 

In  the  private  correspondence  of  the  period,  in  debates 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  in  the  evidence  before  the 
Poor  Law  Committee  of  1 8 1 7,  we  read  of  many  parishes 
where  considerably  more  than  half  the  inhabitants  were 
on  the  poor  rates :  of  poor  rates  exceeding  20J.  in  the 
pound  :  of  farms  which  no  man  would  cultivate  even 
rent    free  :     of    cottages    abandoned,    of  whole    parishes 

^  See  the  tables  given  in  Porter's  Progress  of  the  Nation,  edition  of 
185 1,  pp.  444,  445. 
2  Ibid.y  p.  90. 


2  14  ROBERT    OWEN 

deserted,  of  homeless  people  worn  with  hunger  wandering 
over  the  country  in  search  of  work. 

There  were  disturbances,  demonstrations,  rick-burn- 
ings, and  smashing  of  machinery  throughout  the  country. 
Five  men  were  hanged  in  1816  for  riots  at  Ely.  At 
the  end  of  the  same  year  there  was  a  turbulent 
meeting  in  Spa  Fields.  The  mob  broke  into  a  gun- 
smith's shop  in  Snow  Hill,  possessed  themselves  of 
the  fire-arms,  and  threatened  the  city.  The  riot  was 
suppressed  by  the  police  ;  the  ringleaders  were  tried 
for  hio;h  treason  and  acquitted.  Meanwhile  the  newly 
christened  Radicals,  led  by  Major  Cartwright,  Cobbett, 
Hone,  Wooler,  Hunt  and  others,  were  demanding 
universal  suffrage,  annual  parliaments,  and  reform  of 
the  parliamentary  machinery  generally.  The  Govern- 
ment became  alarmed  at  the  disturbed  state  of  the 
country  and  the  general  agitation  for  reform  ;  at  the 
growth  of  the  Hampden  and  the  Spencean  Clubs,  and 
other  political  organisations.  Select  Committees  of  both 
Houses  of  Parliament  sat  early  in  181 7  to  consider 
the  state  of  the  country.  The  Habeas  Corpus  Act  was 
suspended  and  several  repressive  Acts  were  passed,  of 
which  the  chief  aimed  at  suppressing  as  far  as  possible 
the  right  of  public  meeting. 

Such,  then,  was  the  state  of  the  country  and  the 
temper  of  the  public  mind  in  181 6  and  181 7,  when 
Robert  Owen  first  promulgated  his  scheme  of  social 
salvation.  He  was  known  to  the  world  as  a  successful 
manufacturer,  who  had  done  much  to  improve  the  pro- 
cesses of  fine-cotton  spinning  :  a  hard-headed  man  of 
business,  who  had  for  a  score  of  years  conducted  large 
industrial   concerns    at    enormous    profit   to    himself   and 


FOR  THE   UNEMPLOYED  ^15 

his  partners.  He  stood  high,  too,  in  the  business  world 
as  a  man  of  sterling  honesty,  who  was  unwilling  to  be 
too  sharp  in  a  bargain,  or  to  take  advantage  of  a 
customer's  ignorance.  Macnab  tells  us  that  it  was  Owen's 
habitual  practice  when  he  foresaw  a  fall  in  the  price 
of  yarn,  to  ask  his  customers  whether  they  would  not 
wish  any  orders  which  might  be  in  hand  to  be  deferred 
so  that  they  might  take  advantage  of  the  lower  prices  ; 
and  in  the  same  way,  he  would  write  to  his  corre- 
spondents before  a  rise,  and  urge  them  to  buy.^ 

Further  he  was  known  as  a  man  of  liberal  views  who 
had  given  much  of  his  time  and  money  to  improving 
the  condition  of  those  who  worked  under  him.  And 
he  was  this  very  year,  1816,  giving  important  evidence 
before  two  Commitees  of  the  House  of  Commons,  on 
popular  education  and  on  the  state  of  children  in 
factories.  Such  a  man  was  sure  of  a  respectful  hearing 
for  any  views  which  he  might  put  forward. 

In  the  summer  of  18 16  a  public  meeting  was  con- 
vened by  the  Association  for  the  Relief  of  the  Manu- 
facturing and  Labouring  Poor,  under  the  presidency  of 
the  Duke  of  York,  to  consider  measures  for  the  relief 
of  the  prevalent  distress.  Owen  had  breakfasted  on  the 
day  of  the  meeting  with  one  of  his  episcopal  friends, 
Bathurst,  Bishop  of  Norwich,  and  was  entrusted  by 
his  host,  who  was  unable  himself  to  attend  the  meeting, 
with  a  subscription  of  ten  pounds  for  the  fund  which 
was  to  be  raised.  The  meeting  appointed  a  committee, 
under  the  chairmanship  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
to  consider  practical  measures  of  relief,  and  Owen's 
name  was  naturally  placed  on  the  list  of  members. 
^  Mac7iab,  p.  131. 


2i6  ROBERT   OWEN 

The  committee  met  next  day,  and,  after  many  economists 
and     public     men     had     spoken     on     the     subject,     the 
chairman,     who,     as     we    have     already     seen,     was     ac- 
cjuainted    with    Owen    and    his    views,    invited    him    also 
to    address    the    meeting.      Owen     having    at    that     time 
little    experience     in    public    speaking,    felt,    as    he    tells 
us,  considerable  reluctance  in  complying  with  the  request. 
But  he  had    reflected   to  some  purpose   on    the   subject, 
and  he  seems  to  have  acquitted  himself  well.      His  speech 
insisted  upon   two  points  :    that  the    immediate   occasion 
of  the   distress   was   the   sudden   cessation   of   the   extra- 
ordinary demand  created  by  the  war,  or  in  his  own  words 
— "  on  the    day    on    which   peace  was   signed    the  great 
customer  of  the  producers  died"  :  ^  and  that  the  permanent 
underlying   cause  was   the  displacement,  within   the  past 
generation,  of  human  labour  by  machinery.      Pressed  to 
state  his  remedy  for  this  state  of  things,  Owen  consented 
to  draw  up  a  report  and  present  it  to  a  later  meeting  of 
the  committee.     The  report  was  completed  in  the  spring 
of  the   following   year,   and    Owen    duly  presented  it  to 
the    Archbishop's    committee,    and    outlined    the    nature 
of  his   proposals.      In   the   meantime,    however,   a   Select 
Committee,  under  the  chairmanship   of  Sturges   Bourne, 
had  been  appointed  by  the  House  of  Commons  to  report 
on  the  administration  of  the  Poor  Laws,  and  had  actually 
commenced    to    take  evidence    in   February,    1817.      The 
subject-matter  of  Owen's  report  appeared   more  germane 
to  the  enquiries  of  the  Select  Committee,  and  Owen  was 
requested   to   present    it    to    that  body.      He  accordingly 
oflxTed  himself,  through   Brougham,  who  was  himself  a 
member,   as   a  witness   before   the   Committee.      A   day, 
•  Autobiography^  Vol.  I.,  p.  124. 


FOR  THE   UNEMPLOYED  217 

as  he  tells  us,  was  appointed  for  his  examination  :  but 
after  long  deliberation  the  Committee  finally  decided  not 
to  take  his  evidence. 

This  Report,  which  was  presented  to  the  Select 
Committee  in  a  covering  letter  dated  49,  Bedford  Square/ 
London,  March  12,  1817,  contains  the  first  sketch  of 
Robert  Owen's  celebrated  *'  Plan  "  for  the  regeneration  of 
the  world.  It  purports  to  be  simply  a  development 
of  the  proposals  already  put  forward  in  the  ISJew  View 
of  Society  for  the  provision  by  the  State  of  useful  work 
for  the  unemployed.  But  it  is,  as  will  be  seen,  a 
development  on  lines  which  could  scarcely  have  been 
foreseen  by  any  reader  of  the  earlier  essays. 

The  Report  begins  by  enlarging  the  argument  of 
Owen's  speech  before  the  Archbishop's  committee.  The 
ultimate  cause  of  the  distress,  he  claimed,  was  the  displace- 
ment of  human  labour  by  machinery.  In  Great  Britain 
alone,  he  contended,  machinery  represented  the  labour  of 
more  than  a  hundred  millions  "  of  the  most  industrious 
human  beings "  ;  and  as  machinery  was  far  cheaper  in 
the  working,  it  must,  in  the  nature  of  things,  continually 
tend  to  displace  more  and  more  the  merely  human 
labourer.  Either  therefore  we  must  curtail  the  use  of 
machinery,  or  we  must  suffer  millions  of  our  fellow- 
countrymen  to  starve  to  death  ;  or,  finally,  "  Advan- 
tageous occupation  must  be  found  for  the  poor  and  un- 
employed working  classes,  to  whose  labour  mechanism 
must  be  rendered  subservient,  instead  of  being  applied, 
as  at  present,  to  supersede  it."  ^ 

^  The  town-house  of  Owen's  partner,  Mr.  W^alker  (see  Autobiography^ 
Vol.  L,  p.   180). 

'  Autobiography,  Vol.  Ia,  p.  55. 


21 8  ROBERT   OWEN 

The  poor,  however,  are,  he  points  out,  already 
seriously  demoralised  by  enforced  ignorance  and  idleness  ; 
and  any  pliin  devised  for  the  permanent  amelioration  of 
their  condition  must  include  measures  for  educating  all, 
and  especially  the  children,  in  good  and  useful  habits. 
Such  a  phui  must,  then,  ''combine  means  to  prevent 
their  children  from  acquiring  bad  habits,  and  to  give 
them  good  ones — to  provide  useful  training  and  instruction 
for  them — to  provide  proper  labour  for  the  adults — to 
direct  thc'r  labour  and  expenditure  so  as  to  produce 
the  greatest  benefit  to  themselves  and  to  society  ;  and 
to  place  them  under  such  circumstances  as  shall  remove 
them  from  unnecessary  temptations,  and  closely  unite 
their  interest  and  duty."  ^ 

Obviously,  to  secure  superintendence  which  should 
be  at  once  effective  and  economical,  the  establish- 
ment must  not  be  very  small,  for  then  the  cost 
of  superintendence  would  be  relatively  high  ;  nor 
very  large,  for  then  it  would  cease  to  be  effective. 
In  practice  an  establishment  consisting  of  from  500 
to  1,500  persons  would,  Owen  indicates,  be  most 
suitable. 

The  Report  was  accompanied  by  a  drawing,  to  which 
the  attention  of  the  Committee  was  to  have  been  directed, 
representing  one  of  the  proposed  establishments,  with  its 
appendages  and  a  suitable  quantity  of  land.  The  main 
building  is  represented  as  a  large  quadrangle,  of  which 
three  sides  were  to  be  occupied  by  tenements  or  flats, 
of  four  rooms  each,  each  room  to  accommodate  a  married 
couple  and  two  children.  The  fourth  side  comprised 
dormitories  for  all   the  children  above  three  years  of  age, 


'  Autobiorrraphy,   Vol.   1a,  p.   57, 


if.m 


i.in: 


ARY 


X    A-   D 
H  L 


FOR   THE    UNEMPLOYED  219 

an  infirmary,  and  a  guest-house.  The  buildings  in  the 
middle  of  each  of  the  other  three  sides  of  the  quadrangle 
contained  apartments  for  the  superintendents,  school- 
masters, clergymen,  surgeons,  and  for  store-rooms,  etc. 
A  row  of  buildings  in  the  centre,  dividing  the  quadrangle 
into  two  equal  parts,  contained  accommodation  for 
kitchens,  dining-rooms,  schools,  lecture-room,  and  a  place 
for  public  worship.  The  space  within  the  quadrangle 
was  to  be  planted  with  trees  and  laid  out  as  gardens 
and  playgrounds. 

Other  gardens  surrounded  the  quadrangle  on  the 
outside,  and  beyond  these  were  the  stables,  laundries, 
manufactories,  and  farm  buildings,  all  duly  represented 
on  the  plan.  This  model  establishment  was  designed  to 
accommodate  1,200  persons,  "men,  women,  and  children, 
of  all  ages,  capacities,  and  dispositions  ;  most  of  them 
very  ignorant  ;  many  with  bad  and  vicious  habits, 
possessing  only  the  ordinary  bodily  and  mental  faculties 
of  human  beings,  and  who  require  to  be  supported  out 
of  the  funds  appropriated  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
poor — individuals  who  are  at  present  not  only  useless 
and  a  direct  burden  on  the  public,  but  whose  moral 
influence  is  highly  pernicious.   .   .  ."  ^ 

It  was  intended  that  the  community  should  be,  as 
far  as  possible,  self-sufficing  ;  and  for  this  purpose  its 
members  were  to  engage  in  various  branches  of  manu- 
facture as  well  as  in  agriculture.  All  were  to  work  at 
suitable  tasks,  according  to  their  ability,  except  that  the 
children  were  to  attend  school  the  first  few  years  of  life, 
and  only  gradually  take  part  in  manual  labour,  working 
as  half-timers  in  the  first  instance. 

*  Autobiog?'aphy,  Vol.  Ia,  p.  59. 


no 


ROBERT   OWEN 


The  estimated  expenditure  is  shown   in   the  following 
table — 

Schedule  of  Expenses  for  Forminc,  an  Estalmshmlnt  for 
1,200  Men,  Women,  and  Ciuldken. 


If  the  land  he  purchased. 

1,200  acres  of  land  at  ^30  per  acre 
Lodging  apartments  for  1,200  persons    . 
Three  public  buildings  within  the  square 
Manufactory,  slaughter-house,  and  washing-house 
Furnisliing  300  lodging-rooms,  at  ^8  each     . 
Furnishing  kitchen,  schools,  and  dormitories 
Two  farming  establishments,  with  corn-mill,  and 

and  brewing  appendages 
Making  the  interior  of  the  square  and  roads 
Stock  for  the  farm  under  spade  cultivation 
Contingencies  and  extras  .... 


malting 


36,000 

17,000 

11,000 

8,000 

2,400 

3,000 

5,000 
3,000 
4,000 
6,600 


^96,000.* 

Or  the  land  might  be  rented,  in  which  case  a  capital 
sum  of  ^6o,coo  would  suffice.  The  necessary  capital 
might  be  furnished  by  private  subscription  ;  or,  by 
the  parochial  authorities  ;  or,  best  of  all,  by  the  central 
Government.  Of  the  financial  success  of  such  establish- 
ments Owen  had  no  doubt,  though  he  dismisses  the 
point  in  an  airy  sentence — "  Thus  the  unemployed  poor 
may  be  put  in  a  condition  to  maintain  themselves  and, 
as  may  be  easily  conceived,  quickly  to  repay  the  capital 
advanced,   if  thought   necessary." 

The  adoption  of  the  plan  is  urged  upon  the  Govern- 
ment as  the  best  solution  of  the  problem  of  the 
unemployed  ;  as  the  simplest  and  most  effectual  method 
for  giving  a  real  education  to  the  children  of  the  poor  ; 
as  a  means  ot  enabling  a  much  greater  population   to  be 

'  Autobio;j;raphy,  \\il.  Ia,  {>.  60, 


FOR   THE   UNEMPLOYED  221 

supported  in  a  given  area  than  under  any  other  condi- 
tions ;  and  finally  as  being  "  so  easy,  that  it  may  be 
put  into  practice  with  less  ability  and  exertion  than  are 
necessary  to  establish  a  new  manufacture  in  a  new 
situation."  ^ 

Such  is  the  famous  ''  Plan  "  as  originally  sketched 
out  in  the  Report  offered  to  the  committee  on  the  Poor 
Laws.  It  will  be  seen  that  it  purports  to  be  little  more 
than  a  scheme  for  finding  employment  for  those  who 
could  not  find  it  for  themselves  ;  and  for  educating  the 
children  of  those  who  could  not  themselves  pay  the  cost 
of  schooling.  In  other  words  it  aimed  at  carrying  out 
what  appears  to  have  been  the  intention  of  the 
Elizabethan  Poor  Laws.^  As  a  great  part  of  the  Select 
Committee's  Report  is  given  up  to  showing  the  dis- 
astrous results  which  must  follow  from  the  State  under- 
taking the  duty  of  finding  work  for  all,  their  reluctance 
to  entertain  a  scheme  of  this  nature,  holding  out  such 
magnificent  promises,  and  so  careless  of  the  cost  of  their 
fulfilment,  can  be  readily  understood. 

Frustrated  in  the  attempt  to  gain  publicity  for  his 
views  through  the  Committee,  Owen  had  recourse  to 
the  press.  The  Report  was  printed  in  full  in  No.  XXV. 
of  the  Philanthropist,  a  periodical  edited  by  his  partner 
William  Allen.  It  also  appeared  in  the  Times  and  the 
Morning  Post  of  April  9,  18 17,  occupying  in  each  case 
several  columns  of  the  paper.  The  Times  refers  to  the 
scheme  as  a  substitute  for  the  system  of  English  Poor 
Laws,  and  expresses  doubt  of  its  practicability  on  the 
ground  of  the  expense  involved.     On  May  29  the  Times 

^  Atdobiography,  Vol.  Ia,  p.  64. 

^  See  Report  of  the  Select  Committee  of  18 17,  pp.  16-18. 


22  2  ROBERT   OWEN 

published  a  further  letter  from  Owen  vindicating  his 
proposals.  The  tone  of  the  editorial  on  this  occasion 
is  decidedly  more  encouraging.  The  writer  points  out 
that  *'  Mr.  Owen  is  not  a  theorist  only,  but  a  man  long 
and  practically  familiarised  to  the  management  of  the 
poor  :  we  are  most  desirous  that  a  trial  should  be  made 
of  his  plan  in  at  least  one  instance."  The  Morning  Post 
is  even  more  friendly.  It  refers  to  Owen  as  '*  a  real 
patriot  and  exemplary  philanthropist,"  and  in  its  issue 
of  May  5,  contrasts  Owen's  scheme  favourably  with 
a  proposal  put  forward  by  Mr.  Curwen,  M.P.,  for  the 
establishment  of  universal  Savings  Banks.  On  July  24 
a  small  meeting  of  rich  merchants  and  others  was 
summoned  by  special  invitation  to  the  "  George  and 
Vulture,"  a  City  tavern,  to  hear  Owen  expound  his  plans 
for  the  employment  of  the  poor  ;  and  a  committee  was 
formed  to  consider  the  scheme  and  collect  subscriptions.^ 
On  the  day  following  the  meeting  Owen  began  to  WTite 
a  long  letter,  which  was  published  in  the  Times  on  the 
30th  of  that  month,  and  occupies  just  over  five  columns 
of  close  print  in  that  journal.  A  short  leader  calling 
attention  to  the  letter  deprecates  the  illiberal  attacks  of 
a  personal  nature  which  had  been  made  upon  ''  this 
ardent  philanthropist."  These  attacks,  which  appear  to 
have  been  directed  against  his  religious  views,  were  barely 
noticed  by  Owen."  But  he  sets  himself  to  answer  in 
detail     other     objections     which     had     been     or     might 

'  See  the  report  in  the  Times,  July  25,  181 7. 

'  In  his  ktter  published  in  the  Times  of  May  29,  Owen  had 
mentioned  that  his  friend  Mr.  Southey  had  attacked  his  plan  as  not 
being  founded  on  religion.  Owen  in  reply  contents  himself  with  saying 
that  "  he  understands  true  religion  to  be  devoid  of  all  sectarian  notions," 
and  that  in  his  proposed  establishments  there  would  be  full  liberty  for 
each  to  worship  as  he  chose. 


FOR   THE   UNEMPLOYED  223 

be  made  to  the  scheme,  by  means  of  an  imaginary 
cross-examination,  in  which  he  naturally  rides  triumphant 
over  all  the  arguments  of  his  adversary.  But  the  ghostly 
catechist  does  not  put  the  one  question  which  must  have 
first  suggested  itself  to  any  critic  of  flesh  and  blood — 
what  will  the  scheme  cost  ?  There  is  no  reference  to  this 
crucial  point  beyond  a  few  casual  assurances  to  encourage 
the  doubters,  such  as  *'  they  will  then  [sc,  after  establishing 
their  own  material  and  moral  welfare]  proceed  to  create 
that  surplus  which  will  be  necessary  to  repay  the  interest 
of  the  capital  expended  in  the  purchase  of  the  establish- 
ment," and  again,  ''  every  shilling  .  .  .  will  return  five 
per  cent,  interest  for  the  capital  expended." 

But  apart  from  this  noteworthy  omission — noteworthy, 
above  all,  in  one  who  had  proved  himself  a  successful 
man  of  business — Owen  states  fairly  enough  the  main 
objections  commonly  urged  against  such  a  scheme  as 
his,  and  his  answers,  if  not  convincing  to  the  average 
sensual  man,  are  informed  with  a  kind  of  celestial 
common  sense  which  was  certainly  more  inspiring  than 
the  classical  economy  of  the  period  ;  and,  perhaps,  in 
the  last  analysis  not  much  more  remote  from  the  facts 
of  human  nature. 

Thus  when  the  ghostly  catechist  asks  : — "  But  will 
men  in  a  community  of  mutual  and  combined  interests 
be  as  industrious  as  when  employed  for  their  individual 
gain.'*"  Owen  replies  that  where  the  experiment  has 
been  tried  men  have  been  found  to  work  with  more 
enthusiasm  for  their  common  interest,  than  for  the  sole 
profit  of  a  master  ;  and  further  that  it  would  be  easy 
on  his  method  to  instil  into  the  children  the  principles 
of  industry  and  zeal  for  the  common  good. 


224  ROBERT   OWEN 

Again,  the  catechist  asks,  "  Will  not  your  model 
village  of  co-opcration  produce  a  dull  unitormity  of 
character  ?  "  And  Owen  replies,  *'  No,  for  men  brought 
up  from  birth  in  circumstances  so  favourable  would 
become  not  a  tlull  uniform  race,  but  beings  full  of 
health,  activity,  and  energy,  with  ample  leisure,  and 
such  freedom  from  petty  cares  and  restrictions  as 
would  enable  them  to  develop  to  the  full  their  noblest 
powers." 

Again,  the  question  is  asked,  "  But  should  many  of 
these  villages  be  founded,  will  they  not  increase  the 
products  of  agricultural  and  manufacturing  labour,  which 
are  already  too  abundant,  until  no  market  can  be  found 
for  them,  and  thus  injure  the  present  agriculture,  manu- 
factures, and  commerce  of  the  country  ?  " 

And  the  reply  is  given  :  ''  Is  it  possible  that  there 
can  be  too  many  productions  desirable  and  useful  to 
society  ?  and  is  it  not  to  the  interest  of  all,  that  they 
should  be  produced  with  the  least  expense  and  labour, 
and  with  the  smallest  degree  of  misery  and  moral 
degradation  to  the  working  classes  ;  and,  of  course, 
in  the  greatest  abundance  to  the  higher  classes,  in  return 
for  their  wealth  ?  It  is  surely  to  the  interest  of  all,  that 
everything  should  be  produced  with  the  least  expense 
of  labour,  and  so  as  to  realise  the  largest  portion  of 
comfort   to  the   producing  classes." 

Once  more  the  catechist  asks,  "  Will  not  these 
establishments  tend  to  increase  population,  beyond  the 
means  of  subsistence,  too  rapidly  for  the  well-being  of 
society?  " 

Owen's  reply  to  this,  the  most  searching  objection, 
probably,  of  all  which  he  had  to  meet,  is  in  effect  that 


F'OR   THE   UNEMPLOYED  il^ 

the  fear  of  population  overtaking  the  means  of  subsistence 
is  a  chimera,  arising  entirely  out  of  the  faulty  arrange- 
ments of  existing  society.  Land,  labour,  and  capital 
under  proper  direction  may  be  made  to  produce  fourfold 
what  they  do  at  present.  Each  labourer  could  readily 
produce  food  which  would  amount  to  more  than  ten 
times  his  own  consumption,  and  the  fear  of  over- 
population might  be  deferred  until  such  time  as  the 
whole  surface  of  the  earth  is  one  cultured  garden-plot.^ 
In  a  postscript  to  this  letter,  already  of  portentous 
length,  Owen  describes  a  visit  which  he  had  paid  the 
previous  day  (July  25,  18 17)  to  Newgate.  He  was 
much  impressed  with  the  effect  produced  by  the  labours 
of  Elizabeth  Fry  and  her  associates  on  the  female  inmates. 
Amongst  the  women  he  found  order,  cleanliness,  good 
habits,  and  even  some  degree  of  comfort  and  cheerfulness. 
On  the  male  side,  where  no  such  beneficent  influence 
had  been  exerted,  he  finds  the  men  and  boys  hopeless, 
degraded,  and  looked  upon  by  all  who  had  to  do  with 
them  as  utterly  irreclaimable.  And  yet  a  few  months 
before  his  visit  the  women,  as  he  was  assured  by  the 
prison  officials,  had  seemed  as  completely  lost  to  all 
sense  of  decency,  as  completely  wanting  in  the  ordinary 
social  instincts,  as  wretched  and  as  hopeless  as  the  men. 

^  It  has  been  stated  by  G.  J.  Holyoake  {Sz'xify  Years  of  an  Agitators 
Life,  Vol.  I.,  p.  129)  that  Owen  at  a  later  period  changed  his  views  on 
the  population  question  and  became  an  advocate  of  prudential  restriction 
on  families.  Holyoake  gives  no  reference  to  Owen's  published  writings 
in  support  of  his  statement,  and  I  can  find  no  evidence  for  it.  It  is 
certain  that  when  he  wrote  the  Book  of  the  New  Moral  JVorld,  some 
twenty  years  later,  Owen  still  held  the  view  that  restrictions  on  the 
growth  of  population  were  unnecessary  (see  below,  Chapter  xxi.). 
Robert  Dale  Owen,  however,  became  noted  as  an  exponent  of  neo- 
Malthusian  views. 


VOL.    I. 


15 


226  ROBERT   OWEN 

Owen  draws  the  obvious  moral,  that  human  nature  Is 
plastic  to  good  influences  as  well  as  to  bad  ones  :  and 
that  if  these  wretched  prisoners  had  sinned,  the  blame 
is  not  theirs  but  that  of  the  community.  Here,  said 
he,  I  saw  a  boy  only  sixteen  years  of  age,  in  double 
irons.  A  great  crime  had  been  committed,  but — my 
Lord  Sidmouth  ^  will  forgive  me — it  is  he  who  ought  to 
have  been   double-ironed  in   place  of  the   boy. 

In  a  second  letter,  which  occupied  one  entire  page  of 
the  limes  on  August  9,  Owen  contrasts  in  detail 
the  numerous  advantages  of  life  in  his  proposed  villages 
as  compared  with  the  present  conditions  of  existence 
of  the  poor  in  manuficturing  towns,  leading  up  to 
the  conclusion  "  that  the  manufacturing  towns  are 
the  abode  of  poverty,  vice,  crime  and  misery,  while 
the  proposed  villages  will  ever  be  the  abode  of 
abundance,  active  intelligence,  correct  conduct,  and 
happiness."  " 

These  two  letters  preluded  an  address  delivered  in 
the  "City  of  London  Tavern"  on  August  14,  1817, 
in  which  Owen  further  developed  and  defended  his  plan. 
The  address  is  remarkable  for  the  extraordinary  con- 
fidence which  the  speaker  displays  that  by  his  way,  and 
by  his  way  only,  can  social  salvation  be  found.  Never 
was  inspired  prophet  more  sure  of  the  faith  that  was  in 
him  :  and  never,  it  may  be  added,  did  prophet  display 
a  more  exasperating  tolerance  towards  those  who  difl^cred 
from  him. 

*'  The  principles  and  plan  are  even  now  so  fixed  and 
permanent,    that    hereafter    the    combined    power  of   the 

'  Then  I  lomc  Secretary. 

*  Autobiography,  Vol.  I  a,  p.  92. 


FOR   THE   UNEMPLOYED  227 

world  will  be  found  utterly  Incompetent  to  extract  them 
from  the  public  mind.  It  will  from  this  hour  go  on 
with  an  increasing  celerity.  '  Silence  will  not  retard 
its  course,  and  opposition  will  give  increased  celerity 
to  its  movements.'  "  ^ 

In  concluding  his  address  he  moved  a  series  of 
resolutions  proposing  the  appointment  of  a  committee 
to  investigate  the  plan,  and  calling  for  subscriptions  to 
start  an  experimental  colony  forthwith.  In  order  to 
encourage  the  rest,  he  added  that  he  had  just  received 
from  a  donor  who  wished  to  remain  anonymous,  the 
offer  of  1,500  acres  of  land  suitable  for  the  purposes  of 
a  colony. 

Such  is  the  famous  Plan,  the  promulgation  of  which 
marks  the  beginning  of  modern  Socialism.  It  is  to  be 
noted  that,  as  originally  presented  in  the  Report  to  the 
Select  Committee  on  the  Poor  Laws,  Owen's  scheme 
purported  to  aim  simply  at  finding  productive  work  for 
the  unemployed  poor.  From  the  two  letters,  however, 
published  in  the  newspapers  on  July  2^  and  August  9  re- 
spectively, and  from  the  address  delivered  in  the  ''  London 
Tavern  "  a  few  days  later,  it  is  apparent  that  Owen's 
views  have  developed.  He  is  now  confident  that  when 
the  experiment  had  once  fairly  started,  the  whole  civilised 
world  would  gladly  barter  the  cumbrous  machinery  of 
modern  social  life  for  the  chance  of  living  in  these  happy 
villages  :  *'  When  Society  shall  discover  its  true  interests 
it  will  permit  these  new  establishments  gradually  to 
supersede  "  all  other  arrangements  (p.  74).  He  himself 
looks  forward  to  ending  his  days  as  "  an  undistinguished 
member  of  one  of  these  happy  villages,"  living  upon 
^  Autobiography  Vol.  Ia,  p.  loi. 


22 S  ROBERT   OWEN 

twenty  pounds  a  year  and  earning  it.^  The  change  will 
be  effected  easily  and  naturally.  ''  No  difficulty  or 
obstacle  of  magnitude  will  be  found  in  the  whole  progress. 
The  world  knows  and  feels  the  existing  evil :  it  will  look 
at  the  new  order  of  things  proposed — approve — will  the 
change — and  it  is  done  "   (p.   84). 

But  though  Owen  no  longer  conceals  his  belief  that 
such  an  entire  social  reconstruction  is  inevitable  in  the 
near  future,  in  more  than  one  passage  he  deprecates  any 
undue  haste  in  carrying  out  the  plan,  or  premature  dis- 
turbance of  existing  institutions.  Thus,  "To  accomplish, 
however,  this  great  end,  without  injury  to  any  one,  it 
is  absolutely  necessary  that  all  the  existing  institutions 
should  be  supported  for  a  time,  as  they  are  ;  to  enable 
them  to  protect,  and  beneficially  to  direct  and  control, 
the  mighty  change  which  is  coming  rapidly  upon  us  and 
upon  all  nations  ;  from  which  it  is  utterly  impossible  for 
us  to  escape  ;  and  from  which,  when  it  shall  be  properly 
understood,  not  one  of  us  shall  desire  to  escape"  (p.  87). 

Owen  expressly  disclaims  originality  for  his  plan — 
and  indeed  the  attempt  to  apportion  credit  for  originality 
in  new  ideas  of  any  kind  is  apt  to  be  unprofitable. 
Nevertheless  an  enquiry  into  the  pedigree  of  ideas  is 
always  interesting,  and  often  leads  to  results  historically 
valuable.  It  is  clear,  to  begin  with,  that  Owen's  scheme 
for  regenerating  mankind  by  dividing  them  into  small 
communities,  of  about  one  thousand  to  two  thousand 
persons  apiece,  and  subjecting  them  to  a  wise  paternal 
government,  had  its  roots  deep  in  his  own  personal 
history.  New  Lanark  was  for  him  the  microcosm  in 
which  the  discerning  eye  might  trace  the  outlines  of  the 

'  Autobiography,  Vol.  1a,  p.  lo2. 


FOR    THE    UNEMPLOYED  229 

larger  cosmos.  In  his  original  report,  he  writes  of  the 
plan — 

"  I  beg  to  submit  it  as  the  result  of  daily  experience 
among  the  poor  and  working  classes,  on  an  extensive 
scale,  for  twenty-five  years  "  (p.   51). 

There  were  not  wanting  precedents  at  that  time  for 
solving  the  problem  of  the  poor  by  means  of  parochial 
houses  of  industry.  Several  schemes  of  the  kind  are 
described  in  the  Report  of  the  Committee  of  18 17. 
Thus  the  paupers  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  were  collected 
into  a  House  of  Industry  at  Newport,  which  had  some 
seventy  acres  of  garden,  arable,  and  grass  land  attached, 
the  whole  of  which  was  cultivated  by  the  labours  of  the 
paupers  themselves.  All  the  vegetables  used  were 
supplied  by  the  garden  ;  but  the  corn  was  sold  in  the 
outside  market,  as  the  most  economical  arrangement. 
There  was  further  a  small  manufactory  attached  to  the 
poorhouse  :  the  paupers  made  all  their  own  clothes,  shoes, 
and  linen,  and  manufactured  also  sacks  and  other  articles 
the  sale  of  which  produced  a  net  profit  of  ;^i50  to  ^^200 
a  year.^  We  hear  also  of  similar  Houses  of  Industry  in 
Suffolk,  with  land  attached  to  them,^  and  we  have  a 
detailed  account  of  two  parochial  farms  in  Kent,  at 
Benenden  and  Cranbrook.  In  the  latter  case,  the  farm, 
which  consisted  of  448  acres,  had  been  in  the  occupation 
of  the  parish  authorities  for  more  than  21  years.  Wheat, 
hops,  potatoes,  and  turnips  were  grown,  and  part  of  the 
land  was  laid  down  in  grass.  There  was  a  fair  amount 
of  live-stock.  In  October,  18 16,  there  were  88  paupers 
in  the  farm-house,  of  whom  24  were  children,  and  all 
who  were  able  found  work  of  one  kind  or  another  on 
»  Report,  pp.  95-102,  '  Ibid.^  p.  165, 


230  ROBERT   OWEN 

the  farm.  The  wheat  grown  was  sufficient  in  good  years 
to  supply  all  the  needs  of  the  establishment  ;  the  hogs 
yielded  400  stone  of  pork  a  year  ;  and  generally,  the 
farm  supplied  nearly  the  whole  subsistence  of  the  people.^ 

So  widespread,  indeed,  at  this  time  was  the  belief 
that  it  was  the  duty  of  those  who  administered  the  poor 
rates  to  provide  productive  employment  for  all  those  who 
could  not  obtain  it  in  the  outside  market,  that,  as  already 
said,  the  Committee  of  181  7  found  it  necessary  to  argue 
against  such  an  interpretation  of  the  Statutes.  The 
circumstances  of  the  time  thus  made  it  natural  that  Owen 
should  look  to  the  organisation  of  small  self-sufficing 
communities  working  on  the  land  as  the  proper  solution 
of  the  problem  of  the  unemployed. 

Again,  the  parochial  occupation  of  the  land  had  been 
brought  prominently  before  the  public  for  many  years 
from  another  quarter.  Thomas  Spence,^  born  at 
Aberdeen  in  1750,  was  in  1775  earning  his  living  as 
a  schoolmaster  in  Newcastle-on-Tyne.  It  happened  in 
that  year  that  the  Corporation  of  Newcastle  had  enclosed 
part  of  the  Town  Moor  and  let  it  off  in  small  farms. 
The  freemen  of  the  borough  claimed  the  rent  as  their 
property,  carried  their  claim  to  the  law  courts,  and  were 
successful.  This  victory  set  Spence  thinking,  and  in 
the  November  of  this  same  year,  1775,  ^^  ^^^^  ^  paper 
before  the  Newcastle  Philosophical  Society,  '^  On  the 
mode   of  administering  the  landed  estates  of  the  Nation 

'  Report,  pp.  163-5. 

-  See  Memoir  of  T.  Spefue,  from  Mackenzie's  History  of  Ne^vcastle^ 
1 826  ;  The  Rights  of  Man,  as  exhibited  in  a  lecture  read  to  the  Philo- 
sophical Society  of  Newcastle,  4th  edition,  1793  ;  also  Land  for  the 
Landless:  Spence  and  Spence s  plan,  by  J.  Morrison  Davidson,  1896; 
Precursors  0/  Henry  George,  by  the  same,   1904. 


FOR   THE   UNEMPLOYED  231 

as  a  Joint  Stock  property  in  Parochial  Partnership  by 
dividing  the  rent."  In  this  paper  Spence  sought  to 
demonstrate  that  the  land  belonged  by  inalienable  right 
to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  ;  and  that  the  people 
might  most  conveniently  resume  possession  of  their 
inheritance  through  the  existing  parochial  machinery — 
each  parish,  after  due  notice,  taking  charge  of  the  land 
within  its  boundaries  and  administering  it  as  a  common 
estate  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  parishioners.  Being 
expelled  from  the  Philosophical  Society,  and  apparently 
finding  Newcastle  too  small  to  hold  him  and  his  views, 
Spence  came  up  to  London  and  started  a  bookseller's 
shop  in  Chancery  Lane,  the  rest  of  his  life  being  spent 
in  disseminating  the  knowledge  of  his  Plan,  by  means 
of  copper  tokens,  pamphlets,  and  various  periodicals, 
of  which  Pig's  Meat^  or  Lessons  for  the  Swinish  Multi- 
tude^ is  the  best  known.  Spence  naturally  during  his 
life  paid  a  good  many  visits  to  prison  ;  and  after  his 
death  in  18 14  fear  of  the  Spencean  Clubs,  which  were 
founded  to  carry  on  his  propaganda,  was  one  of  the 
main  causes  which  led  the  Government  in  18 17  to 
suspend  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act. 

Now  though  Spence's  methods  and  premises  were 
widely  different  from  Owen's,  and  though  the  objects 
aimed  at  were  by  no  means  identical,  for  Spence  desired 
to  do  justice  to  the  whole  people,  not  to  dispense  charity 
to  the  unemployed  poor,  yet  there  was  sufficient 
similarity  between  the  two  plans  to  make  it  probable 
that  the  later  reformer  was  to  some  extent  indebted  to 
his  predecessor.  The  limits  of  Owen's  ideal  community 
were  about  those  of  a  fair-sized  village,  and  he  constantly 
suggests    that    his    community    might    conveniently    be 


232 


ROBERT  OWEN 


started  by  the  action  of  the  parish  authorities.  At  any 
rate  to  contemporaries  the  resemblance  was  sufficiently 
striking  for  Owen's  name  to  be  generally  coupled  with 
that  of  Spence.  Thus  the  editor  of  the  Black  Divarf, 
in  commcntinu:  on  the  address  of  August  14,  hails 
Owen  as  the  successor  of  Spence,  and  marvels  that  whilst 
poor  old  Spence  jhad  been  put  in  prison,  and  some  ot 
his  followers  were  even  then  sharing  the  same  fate, 
Owen  ''  advertises  his  Spencean  plan  throughout  the 
country  "  and   has  the   ministers  on   his  committee.^ 

But  Owen  has  himself  indicated  the  examples  which 
most  directly  influenced  his  views.  He  had  been  much 
impressed  by  the  accounts  which  had  reached  England 
of  the  extraordinary  material  prosperity  achieved  by  the 
celibate  religious  communities  of  America.  Of  one  of 
the  best-known  of  these  sects,  that  of  the  Shakers,  Owen 
published  a  Sketch  in  1818,  including  with  it  in  the 
same  volume  Bellers's  tract  referred  to  below,  his  own 
Report  of  March,  1817,  and  his  subsequent  letters  and 
speeches  on  the  subject."  Some  account  of  a  less-known 
community,  that  of  the  Rappites,  in  Pennsylvania,  had 
also  appeared  in  this  country  a  year  or  two  before. 
An  American  traveller,  John  Melish,  had  visited  the 
settlement  in  18 10  or  181  i  and  had  written  a  fervid 
description  of  the  goodfellowship  and  material  well- 
being  which  he  found  there.  The  book  had  been 
reviewed  at  length  in  the  Philanthropist  in  181 5,  and 
it  is  tolerably  certain  that  Owen  had  seen  the  review, 
if  he   had   not  actually  read  Melish's  book.      In  his  letter 


»  Black  Dwarf,  Vol.  I.  (1817),  p.  468. 

'  New  View  of  Society :  Tracts  relative  to  this  subject,  etc.,  by  Robert 
Owen.     London,   181 8. 


FOR   THE   UNEMPLOYED  233 

to  the  Times  of  May  29,  in  defending  his  plan  from 
the  charge  of  being  impracticable,  he  writes  that  the 
feasibility  of  such  a  scheme  "  is  partly  exemplified  by 
the  conduct  of  a  large  body  of  persons  in  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania  ^  who  became  associated  together  on 
the  principles  of  combined  labour  and  expenditure,  and 
who  by  their  experience  of  about  ten  years  have  dis- 
covered that  the  benefits  in  practice  far  exceed  their 
most  sanguine  expectations." 

But  it  was  a  seventeenth-century  English  writer  who 
furnished  the  actual  model  for  the  villages  of  co-operation 
and  unity.  In  his  letter  of  July  25,  after  disclaiming 
originality  for  the  principles  on  which  his  plan  was 
founded,  on  the  ground  that  they  had  been  advanced 
by  great  thinkers  long  before  him,  Owen  adds,  "  I  have 
no  claim  even  to  priority  in  regard  to  the  combinations 
of  these  principles  in  theory  ;  this  belongs  as  far  as  I 
know,  to  John  Sellers,  who  published  them,  and  most 
ably  recommended  them  to  be  adopted  in  practice,  in 
the  year  1696."  ^ 

Bellers^s  pamphlet,  which,  as  already  said,  was  reprinted 
by  Owen  in  181 8,  bears  the  title  "Proposals  for  raising 
A  Colledge  of  Industry  of  all  useful  Trades  and 
Husbandry,  &c.,"  by  John  Bellers,  London,  1696.^  In 
the  introduction  the  author  defines  his  aim  as  threefold  : 
"  First,  Profit  for  the  rich,  (which  will  be  life  to  the  rest). 

^  Rapp's  Colony  had  originally  started  in  1804  near  Zehenople  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  subsequently,  in  181 5,  removed  to  the  site  in  Indiana 
on  the  banks  of  the  Wabash,  which  was  afterwards  known  as  New 
Harmony. 

*  Autobiography,  Vol.  Ia,  p.  76  {cf.  Vol.  I.,  p.  240). 

'  It  is  reprinted  in  Owen's  Autobiography,  Vol.  Ia,  pp.  1 55-181. 
There  is  a  copy  of  the  tract  in  the  British  Museum. 


234  ROBERT    OWEN 

Secondly,  A  plentiful  living  for  the  poor  without  difficulty. 
Thirdly,  A  good  education  for  youth,  that  may  tend  to 
prepare  their  souls  into  the  nature  of  the  good  ground." 
Broadly  his  proposal  is  to  found  a  self-sufficing  community, 
consisting  in  the  first  instance  of  some  three  hundred 
persons.  The  necessary  land  and  capital,  which  he 
estimates  for  a  community  of  that  size  at  ^18,000,  is 
to  be  found  by  a  joint  stock  association,  each  member 
of  which  should  have  a  share  in  the  profits,  and  a  vote 
in  the  government,  in  proportion  to  his  subscription. 
But  while  the  government  of  the  college  was  to  be 
vested  solely  in  the  rich  men  who  found  the  money, 
and  all  surplus  profits  were  to  be  divided  amongst 
them,  the  first  charge  on  the  estate  should  be  the 
maintenance  in  comfort  of  the  workers,  and  the  education 
of  their  children.  As  to  the  first  point,  Bellers  estimates 
that  the  labour  of  200  men,  women,  and  children  would 
be  sufficient  to  provide  food,  clothing,  and  whatever 
else  might  be  required  for  all  the  300  members,  leaving 
the  labour  of  the  other  100  to  supply  the  profit  on  the 
capital  invested.  In  order  to  make  the  community  self- 
sufficing  he  furnishes  a  table  of  the  trades  which  should 
be  includt\i,  and  the  number  which  should  be  assigned 
to  each — thus,  3  tailors,  i  baker,  i  brewer,  4  cooks, 
6  nurses,  3  ploughmen,  3  shepherds,  20  linen  and  20 
woollen  spinners  and  carders,  and  so  on.  There  will 
be  no  need  ot  money  in  the  community.  '*  This 
colledge-fellowship  will  make  labour,  and  not  money, 
the  standard  to  value  all  necessaries  by  ;  and  though 
money  hath  its  conveniences,  in  the  common  way  of 
living,  it  being  a  pledge  among  men  for  want  of  credit  ; 
yet  not  without  its  mischiefs.   .   .   .      Money  in  the  body 


FOR   THE   UNEMPLOYED  235 

politic,  is  what  a  crutch  is  to  the  natural  body,  crippled  ; 
but  when  the  body  is  sound,  the  crutch  is  but  trouble- 
some :  So  when  the  particular  interest  is  made  a  publick 
interest,  in  such  a  colledge  money  will  be  of  little  use 
there." 

But  though  money  will  have  no  place  within  the 
college  walls,  the  rich,  in  addition  to  receiving  the 
interest  on  their  capital,  may  if  they  so  choose,  live  in 
the  college,  or  they  may  buy  a  *'  colledge  commons  " 
for  any  child  for  whom  they  wish  to  provide  a  decent 
living.  As  to  the  poor,  they  will  benefit  by  the  scheme 
yet  more  abundantly  :  "  From  being  poor,  they  will 
be  made  rich,  by  enjoying  all  things  needful  in  health 
or  sickness,  single  or  married,  wife  and  children  ;  and 
if  parents  die,  their  children  well  educated,  and  preserved 
from  misery,  and  their  marrying  incourag'd,  which  is 
now  generally  discourag'd." 

To  secure  this  safe  competence  and  complete  freedom 
from  care,  many  workmen,  Bellers  thinks,  would  prefer 
life  in  the  college  to  the  prospect  of  much  better  wages 
outside. 

Lastly,  the  children  are  to  be  educated.  And  on 
the  question  of  education  Bellers's  views  are  remarkably 
sound,  and  curiously  like  Owen's  own  :  "  Tho'  rules, 
as  well  as  words,  must  be  understood  to  make  a  complete 
scholar,  yet  considering  words  lie  in  the  memory,  and 
rules  in  the  understanding  ;  and  that  children  have  first 
memory  before  understanding  ;  by  that  nature  shows 
that  memory  is  to  be  first  used  ;  and  that  in  the  learning 
of  language,  words  should  be  first  learned,  and  afterwards 
rules  to  put  them  together  ;  children  first  learning  the 
words  of  their  mother-tongue,  and  then  sentences  ;  .  .  , 


236  ROBERT   OWEN 

And  therefore  I  think  vocabulary  and  dictionary  is  to 
be  learnt  before  accidence  and  grammar  ;  and  children's 
reading  and  discoursing  one  to  another,  give  a  deeper 
impression  than  reading  to  themselves."  And  again, 
**  At  four  or  five  years  old,  besides  reading,  boys  and 
girls  might  be  taught  to  knit,  spin,  &c.  and  bigger  boys, 
turning,  ^:c.  ;  and  beginning  young  they  would  make 
the  best  artists  ;  and  by  being  upon  business,  tho'  slight, 
it  improves  their  reasons  by  sensible  demonstration 
(which  is  sooner  learned  than  any  rational  demonstration 
without  it.  .  .  .)  ....  Thus  the  hand  employed  brings 
profit,  the  reason  used  in  it  makes  wise,  and  the  will 
subdued   makes  them   good." 

Bellers  does  not  enter  into  much  detail  as  to  the 
arrangement  of  the  buildings  in  his  proposed  college. 
But  he  mentions  that  there  must  be  four  separate  sleeping- 
wards —  for  the  young  men  and  boys,  the  young  women 
and  girls,  the  married  folk,  and  the  sick  and  lame. 
There  is  also  to  be  a  common  dining-hall,  where  the 
boys  and  girls  are  to  wait  upon  the  men  and  women  at 
meals.  The  tract  concludes  by  citing  a  series  of  objec- 
tions to  the  scheme  and  triumphantly  refuting  them. 

It  seems  probable  that  this  last  feature  in  Bellers's 
tract  suggested  the  similar  recital  of  objections  and  their 
answers  which  forms  the  prominent  feature  of  Owen's 
letter  of  the  25th  July — his  first  production,  apparentlv, 
after  reading  the  earlier  tract.  And  the  enlargement 
in  Owen's  views  between  March  and  July  may  plausibly 
be  traced  to  the  same  source.  For  Bellers's  plan  was 
not  intended  for  a  particular  time  of  distress,  or  for  the 
benefit  of  particular  persons  out  of  employment.  He 
boldly    advocates    industrial    communism    as    the    royal 


FOR   THE   UNEMPLOYED  237 

solution  of  all  the  troubles  and  difficulties  of  the  working 
classes,  whilst  he  quaintly  justifies  the  proposal  to  assign 
the  surplus  profits  to  the  capitalists  on  the  ground  that 
*'  the  rich  have  no  other  way  of  living,  but  by  the  labour 
of  others  ;  as  the  landlord  by  the  labour  of  his  tenants, 
and  the  merchants  and  tradesmen  by  the  labour  of  the 
mechanics,  except  they  turn  levellers,  and  set  the  rich 
to  work  with  the  poor." 

The  resemblance  in  its  broad  lines  between  Bellers's 
"  Colledge  of  Industry  "  and  Owen's  village  of  co-opera- 
tion is  unmistakable,  and  as  will  be  seen  in  the  next 
chapter,  Owen  shortly  proceeded  still  further  to  develop 
his  Plan  upon  the  lines  laid  down  by  Bellers. 

Probably  no  reforms  so  drastic  were  ever  put  before 
the  nation  under  such  respectable  patronage.  Owen, 
as  he  tells  us,  received  friendly  encouragement  from 
the  Ministry,  and  was  permitted  to  place  on  his  committee 
the  names  of  nearly  all  the  great  personages  in  Church 
and  State.^  The  leading  newspapers  gladly  opened 
their  columns  to  him,  praised  his  benevolence  and  his 
patriotism,  and  expressed  the  desire  that  his  scheme 
should  be  fairly  tried. 

But  the  praise  of  the  Times  and  other  London  journals 
was  not  perhaps  altogether  disinterested,  for  Owen  tells 
us  that  he  used  to  purchase  thirty  thousand  copies  of 
newspapers  containing  his  letters  and  addresses  and  post 

^  According  to  the  report  in  the  Times  of  August  15,  the  com- 
mittee proposed  by  Owen  included  the  archbishops  of  England  and 
Ireland,  the  ministers,  the  judges,  the  bishops,  the  Dukes  of  Rutland, 
Wellington,  Bedford,  and  numerous  other  peers ;  Sir  F,  Burdett,  Wilber- 
force,  W.  Smith,  Thomas  Babington,  Coke  of  Norfolk  (afterwards  Earl  of 
Leicester),  Huskisson,  Walter  Scott,  Dugald  Stewart,  Robert  Southey,  and 
many  other  well-known  names. 


238  ROBERT   OWEN 

them  to  the  clergy  of  every  parish  in  the  kingdom,  and 
that  on  one  occasion  the  bulk  of  the  additional  newspapers 
was  so  great  that  the  mail-coaches  were  delayed  twenty 
minutes  in  starting  from  St.  Martin's-le-Grand.  These 
newspapers,  Owen  tells  us,  were  franked  by  Lord 
Lascelles,  who  had  helped  in  the  preliminary  negotiations 
for  introducing  the  Factory  Bill  of  18  19  into  the  House 
of  Commons,  and  subsequently  spoke  against  that  measure. 

As  the  Times  and  the  Morning  Post  at  that  time, 
including  the  stamp  duty,  cost  sevenpence  a  copy,  Owen 
found  little  difficulty  in  the  course  of  these  two  months, 
August  and  September,  181 7,  in  spending  the  sum  of 
four  thousand  pounds  in  securing  publicity  tor  his  views. ^ 

The  insinuation  made  by  Jonathan  Wooler,  the  editor 
of  the  Black  Divarf^  that  this  lavish  expenditure  was 
defrayed  out  of  public  funds,  was  probably  quite  un- 
founded. Wooler  professed  to  believe  that  the  ministers 
stood  behind  Owen,  hoping  that  the  publication  of  the 
plan  might  at  least  do  something  to  allay  public  discontent 
— might  serve,  to  employ  his  own  simile,  as  a  tub  thrown 
to  the  whale.  But  if  Wooler  in  making  this  charge 
allowed  his  better  judgment  to  be  overborne  by  his 
desire  to  discredit  the  hated  Government,  his  criticism 
of  Owen's  proceedings  is  in  other  respects  acute  and 
by  no  means  unfair.  We  have  already  seen  that  he 
classes  Owen  as  a  disciple  of  Thomas  Spence,  the  bugbear 
of  the  Ministry.  He  goes  on  to  pay  a  warm  tribute 
of  respect  to  Owen's  sincerity  and  his  "  enthusiastic 
benevolence."  But  he  points  out  that  the  plan  aims, 
in  plain  terms,  at  establishing  ''  a  nursery  for  men,"  a 
kind  ()\  piiupcr  barracks,  where  men,  women  and  children 
Autobiography,  Vol.  I.,  p.  i  50. 


FOR  THE   UNEMPLOYED  239 

would  be  reduced  to  mere  automata  ;  their  feelings, 
passions  and  opinions  measured  out  by  rule  ;  working 
in  common,  living  in  common,  and  having  all  things 
common  except  their  wives  ;  with  abundance  of  food 
and  clothing  ;  but  without  liberty  or  hope  of  anything 
beyond. 

Again,  the  Black  Dwarf  not  unfairly  points  out  that 
Owen  was  quite  unable  to  meet  his  opponents  in 
argument.  If  any  one  criticised  the  scheme  adversely, 
Owen's  only  reply  was  to  accuse  the  critic  of  ignorance 
and  inexperience.  ''  With  Mr.  Owen  it  would  be  useless 
to  argue.  He  is  only  calculated  to  represent  his  system. 
A  defence  of  it  is  beyond  his  powers.  He  therefore 
wisely  shuns  the  replication,  and  persists  in  asserting 
that  his  plan  is  the  wisest,  best  and  most  admirable 
scheme  that  ever  entered  into  any  human  comprehension. 
It  is — because  it  is.  '  See  what  a  pretty  plan  1  have 
drawn  out  on  paper.  At  what  equal  distances  I  have 
placed  such  and  such  buildings.  How  imposing  they  are. 
There  are  all  the  offices,  attached  and  detached,  that 
could  be  wished.  There  are  schools  and  lecture  rooms, 
and  Committee  rooms  and  brew-houses  and  workhouses 
and  granaries.  There  you  will  put  the  women,  there  the 
men  and  there  the  children.  They  will  be  called  to 
dinner  every  day  regularly,  and  they  will  be  clothed  and 
taught  and  not  worked  very  much.  Oh,  how  happy 
they  must  be  !  There  is  nothing  to  prevent  it  whatever. 
All  the  bad  passions  will  be  eradicated,  and  I  should 
like  to  live  there  myself.  Nobody  that  understands  it 
can  for  a  moment  object  to  it.  Why,  there  is  to  be 
a  chapel  in  which  only  the  truth  is  to  be  taught  ;  and 
schools   where    nothing    but    useful   knowledge   is   to  be 


1^0  ftOBERT   OWENf 

inculcated.'  Such  is  the  reasoning  Mr.  Owen  con- 
descends to  use  :  and  if  he  had  to  make  the  beings  who 
are  to  inhabit  his  paradises,  as  well  as  to  make  the  laws 
that  should  regulate  them,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
he  would  manage  everything  extremely  well." 

That  is  how  the  plan  impressed  a  contemporary, 
himself  an  ardent  worker  on  the  side  of  the  people, 
and  ready  when  the  occasion  came  to  suffer  imprisonment 
in  their  cause.  If  we  compare  this  utterance  with  the 
writer's  venomous  attacks  on  Sidmouth  and  the  Govern- 
ment generally,  we  shall  see  that  the  criticism,  though 
searching,  is  by  no  means  unkindly.  The  Black  Dwarf's 
final  advice  to  Owen  is  to  *'  let  the  Poor  alone.  The 
working  bee  can  always  find  a  hive "  ;  and  if  the 
philanthropist  yearns  to  fill  his  barracks,  let  him  take 
the  pampered  sinecurists,  the  hungry  placemen,  the  public 
pensioners  and  a  few  well-fed  bishops.  These  gentlemen 
would  scarcely  do  enough  work  to  pay  for  their  keep  ; 
but  if  they  lived  upon  twenty  pounds  a  head,  they  would 
at  least  free  themselves  from  the  gout,  and  the  country 
from  the  cost  of  their  maintenance.^ 

The  other  Reformers  took  much  the  same  line. 
Thus  Hone  writes  :  "  It  is  the  Spencean  plan  doubly 
dipped  "  ;  and  again,  '*  Mr.  Owen  conceives  that  all 
human  beings  are  so  many  plants  which  require  to  be 
reset.  He  accordingly  proceeds  to  dibble  them  in 
squares,  etc."  "  Cobbett  finds  the  plan  "  nothing  short 
of  a  species  of  monkery,"  and  asks  whether  "  the 
novices  when  once  confirmed  are  to  regard  their  character 
of  Pauper  as  indelible  }  "  and   whether  "  the   Sisterhood 

'  lilack  iHuarf,  August  20,  1817. 

'  Hone's  Reformists'  Register,  August  23  and  30,  18 17. 


FOR   THE   UNEMPLOYED  241 

and  Brotherhood  are  to  form  distinct  bodies,  or  to  live 
together  promiscuously  ?  "  ^ 

The  general  trend  of  criticism  on  Owen's  speech  at 
the  meeting  of  August  14,  was  to  the  same  effect.  The 
chief  speaker  was  Major  Torrens,  who  dwelt  upon  the 
difficulties  which  must  ensue  with  a  population  relieved 
from  the  direct  pressure  of  subsistence,  but  left  free  to 
multiply.  Then  followed  several  prominent  members 
of  the  Reform  party — Hunt,  Wooler  and  Alderman 
Waithman,  the  latter  moving  an  amendment  to  Owen's 
resolutions,  calling  upon  the  Legislature  to  reduce  public 
expenditure  and  adopt  other  measures  to  relieve  the 
present  distress.  No  one  spoke  in  favour  of  Owen's 
plan.  Waithman's  amendment  was  put  to  the  meeting, 
but  declared  to  be  lost  on  a  show  of  hands.  The  chair- 
man's impartiality  was,  however,  loudly  questioned,  and 
a  vote  of  thanks  to  him  proposed  by  Owen  was  lost. 
The  Times  report  ends  with  the  significant  remark  that 
Watson,  Preston,  and  Thistlewood  were  present.^ 

^  Cobbett's  Weekly  Political  Pamphlet,  Angnsi  2,  1817.  Cobbett  was 
at  this  time  in  America,  having  fled  from  the  suspension  of  the  Habeas 
Corpus  Act  and  the  general  reign  of  terror.  The  letter  from  which  the 
above  extracts  are  taken  is  dated  "  North  Hampstead,  Long  Island, 
June  13th,  1 817,"  and  the  criticism,  therefore,  is  obviously  directed  to 
Owen's  first  Report. 

2  Times,  August  15,  1817.  Watson,  Preston,  and  Thistlewood  had 
been  amongst  the  ringleaders  of  the  Spa  Fields'  Riot,  mentioned  on 
p.  214.  Thistlewood  was  hanged  in  1820  for  his  connection  with  the 
Cato  Street  Conspiracy. 


VOL.    I.  16 


CHAPTER    XI 

1817— 1819 

SUCH,  then,  was  Owen's  position  in  the  middle  of 
August,  1 81 7.  He  found  indeed  little  favour 
with  the  party  of  reform.  They  viewed  his  plans 
with  half  contemptuous  tolerance,  when  they  did  not 
actively  oppose  them.  They  disapproved  of  the  scheme 
on  economic  grounds  ;  they  disapproved  still  more  of  the 
undemocratic  character  of  the  government  proposed  for 
the  colonies.  Owen's  personal  experience  had  led  him 
to  regard  a  benevolent  paternal  despotism  as  the  ideal 
constitution,  and  this  element,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
strongly  repugnant  to  men  of  the  type  of  Cobbett,  Hone 
and  Wooler.  Moreover,  Owen's  friendly  relations  with 
the  ministers  were  little  likely  to  prepossess  the  Radicals 
in  his  favour.  And  in  any  case  they  felt  that,  even 
if  a  scheme  of  the  kind  proposed  were  feasible,  it 
could  but  act  as  a  temporary  palliative,  and  must  in 
the  long  run  be  harmful  to  the  cause  of  progress,  by 
diverting  attention  from  the  real  remedies  for  the 
distress. 

On  the  other  hand  Owen  could  count  on  sympathy 
and  encouragement  from  many  persons  high  in  Church 
and  State  :  he  numbered  several  of  the  bishops  amongst 
his  friends  ;   the  most  influential   of  the  London  journals 

24a 


i8i7 — 1819  243 

had  given  flattering  notices  and  had  protested  sympathy 
with  his  plans.  Lord  Liverpool  had  invited  him  to  an 
interview  and  expressed  his  interest  and  approval.  From 
the  fact  that  Owen  was  allowed  to  nominate  the  members 
of  the  Ministry  on  his  committee,  it  would  almost  seem 
that  the  Government  were  not  without  hopes  that  good 
might  come  of  the  scheme.  The  distress  was  real  enough 
and  serious  enough  ;  and,  like  a  patient  suffering  from 
an  incurable  disease,  ministers  may  have  thought  their 
straits  sufficiently  desperate  to  justifiy  resort  even  to 
quack  remedies. 

But  again,  whatever  we  may  think  of  its  later 
development,  in  its  original  form  Owen's  plan  could 
scarcely  be  classed  as  a  quack  remedy.  Farm  colonies 
had  already  been  tried  with  good  results,  as  we  have 
seen,  in  the  Isle  of  Wight  and  in  Kent.  Similar  colonies 
were  started,  with  some  measure  of  success,  in  Holland 
and  Belgium  a  year  or  two  later.  And  the  hope  of 
bringing  together  vacant  land  and  unemployed  labour 
has  continued  to  inspire  successive  generations  of  social 
reformers  down  to  the  present  day.  Owen's  plan,  re- 
garded merely  as  a  scheme  for  the  employment  of  the 
poor,  was  so  far  from  being  absurd  or  purely  Utopian, 
that  no  less  an  authority  than  Ricardo  was  in  favour  of 
the  experiment  having  a  fair  trial.  At  a  public  meeting 
to  promote  Owen's  scheme  held  in  June,  18 19,  Ricardo 
allowed  his  name  to  be  placed  on  the  committee,  ex- 
. plaining  that  he  did  so  because,  though  he  did  not  go 
all  the  way  with  Owen,  nor  expect  of  the  scheme  all 
the  good  which  Owen  expected  of  it,  yet  in  a  limited 
degree  he  thought  it  likely  to  "  succeed,  and  to  produce, 
when  it  did  succeed,  considerable  happiness,  comfort  and 


244  ROBERT   OWEN 

morality,  by  giving  employment  and  instruction  to  the 
lower  classes."  ^ 

Later  in  the  same  year,  on  Sir  W.  de  Crespigny's 
motion  for  a  Select  Committee  to  enquire  into  Owen's 
plan,  Ricardo  voted  with  the  small  minority  in  favour 
of  the   motion.' 

Briefly,  then,  up  to  the  date  of  his  second  meeting  on 
August  2  1,  1 817,  Owen  had  on  his  side  the  bulk  of 
the  respectable  classes,  and  the  more  influential  portion 
of  the  London  press.  He  had,  too,  the  cordial  sympathy 
and  respect  of  many  amongst  the  political  economists 
and  reformers  who  were  definitely  opposed  to  his  plan. 
His  conspicuous  goodwill  to  all  mankind  and  his 
splendid  record  in  the  past  spoke  for  him  ;  and  he 
probably  does  not  gready  exaggerate  the  case  when  he 
says  of  himself,  that  at  this  time  he  was  "  beyond 
comparison  the  most  generally  popular  character  living."  ^ 

But  Owen  had  other  enemies  besides  the  Reformers 
and  the  economists.  Southey,  as  we  have  seen,  had 
already  discovered  that  the  system  was  not  founded 
on  religious  principles.  Indeed,  though  Owen  had 
refrained  from  defining  his  attitude  precisely  in  the  Essays 
on  the  Formation  of  Character,  he  had  made  it  sufliciently 
clear  that  his  own  religious  beliefs  were  far  removed 
from  orthodoxy.  To  a  mind  like  Owen's  the  mere 
suppression,  even  from  no  ignoble  motive,  of  unpopular 
opinions  must  have  seemed  like  treason  to  the  truth. 
He  was  troubled  by  no  doubts  as  to  the  perfect  reason- 

'  Report  of  meeting  in  Times  of  June  28,  1819. 

»  Hansard,  debate  of  December  16,  18 19.  On  this  occasion,  how- 
ever, Ricardo  explained  that  he  was  at  war  with  Owen's  system,  but 
wanted  to   know   more  about  spade  liusbandry. 

•  Autobiography ,  Vol.  I.,  p.  189. 


Fiont  ihc  ford  ait  by  Pickcrsi^ill,  iit  the  f  ossessivn  cf  Mr.  IVilliaui  Tcbb. 
Pa  ill  led  ill  1 82  6. 


ROBERT    OWEN. 


'IHS 


i8i7 — 1019  245 

ableiiess  of  his  own  views  on  these  matters  ;  he  probably 
saw  no  reason  why  any  portion  of  the  message  with 
which  he  was  charged  should  be  any  longer  withheld. 
The  attacks  of  the  clerical  party  thus  combined  with  his 
own  instinctive  aversion  to  reticence  of  any  kind  to  impel 
him  to  speak  out.      Truth,  as  he  said,  will  prevail. 

He  came,  then,  to  the  meeting  of  August  21  full 
of  the  high  resolve  boldly  to  confront  his  accusers,  and  to 
leave  unspoken  no  jot  or  tittle  of  his  message  to  man- 
kind.^ The  first  part  of  the  address  travelled  over 
familiar  ground,  and  was  concerned  mainly  with  demon- 
strating the  immeasurable  advantages  possessed  by  his 
system  over  the  present  state  of  society,  or  of  any  scheme 
yet  devised  for  its  amendment.  In  a  passage  informed 
with  sincere  feeling  he  sought  to  show  that  when  each 
man  was  a  member  of  a  huge  family,  and  all  worked 
together  for  the  common  good,  even  death  would  be 
robbed  of  more  than  half  its  terrors.  The  mourners 
would  find  "  consolation  in  the  certain  knowledge  that 
within  their  own  immediate  circle  they  have  many, 
many  others  remaining  ;  and  around  them  on  all  sides, 
as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  or  imagination  extend,  thou- 
sands on  thousands,  in  strict,  intimate,  and  close  union, 
are  ready  and  willing  to  offer  them  aid  and  consolation. 
No  orphan  left  without  protectors ;  no  insult  or  oppres- 
sion can  take  place,  nor  any  evil  result  whatever,  beyond 
the  loss  of  one  dear  friend  or  object  from  among 
thousands  who  remain,  dear  to  us  as  ourselves.  Here 
may  it  be  truly  said,  '  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ? 
O  grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ? '"  2 

1  The  address,  it  should  be  remembered,  was  written  out  beforehand. 

2  Autobiography,  Vol.  Ia,  p.   114. 


246  ROBERT    OWEN 

He  then  suddenly  changed  his  tone.  "  It  may  now 
be  asked,  '  If  the  new  arrangements  proposed  really 
possess  all  the  advantages  that  have  been  stated,  why 
have  they  not  been  adopted  iti  universal  practice  during 
all  the  ages  which   have  passed  ?  ' 

"'Why  should  so  many  countless  millions  of  our 
fellow-creatures,  through  each  successive  generation,  have 
been  the  victims  of  ignorance,  of  superstition,  of  mental 
degradation,  and  of  wretchedness?  ' 

"  iMy  friends,  a  more  important  question  has  never 
yet  been  put  to  the  sons  of  men  !  Who  can  answer  it  ? 
who  dare  answer  it, — but  with  his  life  in  his  hand  ; 
a  ready  and  willing  victim  to  truth,  and  to  the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  world  from  its  long  bondage  of  disunion, 
error,   crime  and   misery  ? 

*'  Behold  that  victim  !  On  this  day — in  this  hour — 
even  now — shall  those  bonds  be  burst  asunder,  never 
more  to  reunite  while  the  world  shall  last.  What  the 
consequences  of  this  daring  deed  shall  be  to  myself,  I 
am  as  indifferent  about  as  whether  it  shall  rain  or  be 
fair  to-morrow.  Whatever  may  be  the  consequences, 
I  will  now  perform  my  duty  to  you,  and  to  the  world  ; 
and  should  it  be  the  last  act  of  my  life,  I  shall  be  well 
content,  and  know  that  I  have  lived  for  an  important 
purpose. 

"  Then,  my  friends,  I  tell  you,  that  hitherto  you 
have  been  prevented  from  even  knowing  what  happiness 
really  is,  solely  in  consequence  of  the  errors — gross 
errors — that  have  been  combined  with  the  fundamental 
notions  of  every  religion  that  has  hitherto  been  taught 
to  men.  And,  in  consequence,  they  have  made  man 
the   most  inconsistent,  and  the  most  miserable  being  in 


i8i7 — 1819  247 

existence.  By  the  errors  of  these  systems  he  has  been 
made  a  weak,  imbecile  animal  ;  a  furious  bigot  and 
fanatic  ;  or  a  miserable  hypocrite  ;  and  should  these 
qualities  be  carried,  not  only  into  the  projected  villages, 
but  into  Paradise  itself^  a  Paradise  would  be  no  longer 
found!  .  .  . 

**  Therefore,  unless  the  world  is  now  prepared  to 
dismiss  all  its  erroneous  religious  notions,  and  to  feel 
the  justice  and  necessity  of  publicly  acknowledging  the 
most  unlimited  religious  freedom,  it  will  be  futile  to  erect 
villages  of  union  and  mutual  co-operation  ;  for  it  will 
be  vain  to  look  on  this  earth  for  inhabitants  to  occupy 
them,  who  can  understand  how  to  live  in  the  bond  of  peace 
and  unity ;  or  who  can  love  their  neighbour  as  themselves, 
whether  he  be  Jew  or  Gentile,  Mahomedan  or  Pagan, 
Infidel  or  Christian.  Any  religion  that  creates  one 
particle  of  feeling  short  of  this,  is  false  ;  and  must  prove 
a  curse  to  the  whole  human  race  !  "  ^ 

Such  was  the  famous  denunciation  of  all  the  religions 
of  the  world,  to  which  Owen  himself  was  accustomed 
to  refer  as  the  turning-point  in  his  life. 

In  the  debate  which  followed  the  address  the  religious 
question  was  scarcely  referred  to,  the  chief  speakers 
being  again  Major  Torrens,  Wooler,  Waithman  and  the 
veteran  reformer  Major  Cartwright.  In  the  event 
Owen's  resolutions  were  lost,  and  Alderman  Waithman's 
amendment — ascribing  the  distress  to  heavy  taxation  and 
bad  Government  and  calling  upon  the  Ministry  for 
retrenchment  and  reform — which  had  been  declared  to 
be  lost  at  the  previous  meeting,  was  again  put  to  the 
vote  and  carried   by  a  large   majority. 

*  Autobiog?'aphy,  Vol.  I  a,  pp.  115,  116. 


248  ROBERT   OWEN 

But  the  effect  of  Owen's  frankness  was  seen  In  the 
attitude  of  the  press.  The  Times,  which  up  to  this 
point  had  continued  to  speak  with  enthusiasm  of  Owen's 
philanthropy,  and  had  more  than  once  expressed  a  desire 
to  see  his  scheme  fairly  tried,  opened  its  leader  of 
August  22  with  the  significant  words — '*  The  curtain 
dropt  yesterday  upon  Mr.  Owen's  drama,  not  soon, 
it  is  probable  to  be  again  lifted  up.  ...  Mr.  Owen 
promised  a  Paradise  to  mankind,  but,  as  t\\v  as  we  can 
understand,  not  such  a  Paradise  as  a  sane  mind  would 
enjov,  or  a  disciple  of  Christianity  could  meditate  without 
terror." 

Owen  tells  us  that  on  the  day  after  the  speech  he 
met  Brougham,  who  exclaimed,  *'  How  the  devil,  Owen, 
could  you  say  what  you  did  yesterday  at  your  public 
meeting  !  If  any  of  us  "  (meaning  the  Liberal  party  in 
the  House  of  Commons)  "  had  said  half  as  much,  we 
should  have  been  burned  alive — and  here  you  are  quietly 
walking   as  if  nothing  had  occurred  !  "  ^ 

Again,  two  years  later,  in  the  debate  in  the  House 
of  Commons  on  December  16,  18 19,  the  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer,  in  opposing  Sir  W.  de  Crespigny's 
motion  for  a  Select  Committee  to  enquire  into  Owen's 
scheme,  found  his  weightiest  argument  in  the  passage 
above  quoted  from  the  address  of  August  21. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  then,  that  Owen's  outspoken 
denunciation  of  current  religious  systems  did  much  to 
alienate  those  of  his  friends  who  occupied  high  places 
in  the  world.  But  it  is  probable  that  his  own  extra- 
vagance and  want  of  judgment  did  still  more  to  discredit 
his  cause  with  many  who  would  have  remained  unaffected 
*  Autobiography,  Vol.  I.,  j).  164. 


1817  —  1^19  ^49 

by  the  proof  of  his  unorthodoxy.  Owen  had  from  the 
first  shown  himself  incapable  of  answering  or  even 
apparently  of  understanding  the  objections  urged  against 
his  scheme,  especially  the  two  cardinal  objections — the 
enormous  expenditure  involved,  and  the  danger  of 
population,  deprived  of  the  natural  checks,  increasing 
beyond  the  limits  of  subsistence.  In  his  letter  of 
August  19,  he  dismisses  the  arguments  brought 
forward  by  Major  Torrens  and  others  at  the  meeting 
a  few  days  previously  as  "  little  to  the  purpose,  futile 
and  contrary  to  daily  experience,  and  evincing  much 
real  ignorance  of  the  subject,"  and  compares  his  excited 
critics  at  the  conclusion  of  the  meeting  to  *'  so  many 
individuals  in  a  very  ill-managed  lunatic  asylum."  A 
final  letter,  published  in  the  newspapers  of  September  10, 
1817,  begins,  "The  adjourned  public  meeting,  to 
consider  the  plan  I  have  proposed,  has  passed  ;  and  from 
its  commencement  to  the  end,  it  far  more  than  satisfied 
all  my  wishes.  Each  prominent  figure  moved  correctly 
to  the  wire  that  was  touched  for  the  purpose,,  The 
opposition  to  the  measures  recommended  to  these 
meetings  for  their  concurrence  has  well  accomplished  the 
part  assigned  to  it,  and  has  thereby  forwarded  all  my 
views,  and  brought  the  adoption  of  the  plan  in  its  whole 
extent  some  years  nearer  than  otherwise  could  have 
been  possible.  My  chief  apprehension  previous  to  the 
meeting  was  that  there  would  not  be  a  sufficiently 
decisive  stand  made  by  its  opponents,  to  elicit  all  the 
arguments  which  could  be  urged  against  it ;  for  I  was 
anxious  the  public  should  discover  all  their  fatuity  and 
weakness.*' 

And  again,  **  The  gentlemen  who  opposed  the  plan  at 


250 


ROBERT   OWEN 


the  public  meetings,  (tor  whom,  however,  I  do  not 
entertain  one  unsocial  feeling,)  did  not  surely  imagine  I 
wished  to  have  the  opinions  of  the  ill-trained  and  unin- 
formed on  any  of  the  measures  intended  for  their  relief 
and  amelioration.  No  !  On  such  subjects,  until  they 
shall  be  instruced  in  better  habits,  and  made  rationally 
intelligent,   their   advice  can  be  of  no  value."  ' 

Lane^uage  of  this  character  was  clearly  more  calculated 
to  alienate  friends  than  to  conciliate  opponents.  Nor 
was  the  unhappy  impression  produced  by  this  arrogance 
mitigated  by  the  nature  ot  the  proposals  as  still  further 
developed  in  the  letter  of  September  10.  Owen 
now  makes  it  clearer  than  before  that  he  aimed  at 
nothing  less  than  an  early  and  complete  revolution  of 
the  social  state.  The  persons  for  whom  these  villages 
of  co-operation  are  designed  are  no  longer  simply  the 
unemployed,  for  beyond  these  he  enumerates  three  other 
categories,  viz.  ;  II.  The  able-bodied  working  class  with- 
out property.  III.  The  working  class  with  property 
ranging  from  £100  apiece.  IV.  The  rich,  who  are 
to  live  by  employing  the  members  of  Class  II.  to  work 
for  them.  This  further  development  of  the  scheme  is 
obviously  borrowed  from  Bellers  ;  and  like  Bellers, 
Owen  enters  into  considerable  detail  as  to  the  voting 
powers,  the  appointment  of  committees,  and  the  general 
machinery  ot  government  for  these  self-sufficing  com- 
munities. The  letter  concludes  with  an  extraordinary 
schedule,  showing  how  in  the  present  state  of  society, 
divided  as  it  is  by  religious  and  political  differences,  union 
and  stability  can  be  ensured  by  founding  a  sufficient 
number  of  communities  to  embrace  at  once  every  possible 

'  Autobiography^  Vol.  I  a,  pp.  119,  120. 


iSiy — 1B19  151 

combination  of  religious  belief  and  political  conviction. 
Thus  Community  No.  I.  may  consist  exclusively  of 
persons  who  are  at  once  Arminian  Methodists  and 
violent  Ministerialists,  whilst  No.  50  may  consist  of 
Jews  who  are  moderate  Reformers,  and  so  on  with  all 
other  possible  combinations.^  Finally,  in  an  address 
dated  September  19,  he  announced  that  the  New  State 
of  Society  Enrolment  Office  would  shortly  be  opened 
at  Temple  Chambers,  Fleet  Street,  and  that  meanwhile 
Books  of  Enrolment  were  to  be  found  at  Longman's 
and  other  leading  publishers.^ 

After  the  publication  of  his  final  address  of  September 
19,  Owen  seems  to  have  rested  for  a  time  from  his 
public  labours.  Probably  his  business  and  domestic 
affairs  claimed  his  attention.  In  the  following  year, 
however,  he  published  A  ISIew  Vieiv  of  Society :  tracts 
relative  to  this  subject^  which  contains  a  reprint  of  Bellers's 

^  This  schedule  was  a  most  unfortunate  production.  An  enemy  who 
wished  to  caricature  Owen's  vdevvs  could  hardly  have  succeeded  better. 
An  enthusiastic  admirer  writing  in  warm  praise  of  the  three  addresses, 
adds,  "  always  excepted  the  abominable  table  of  Sects  ...  (it  has) 
disgusted  {imitecessarily).  every  one,  and  conciliated  none."  (Letter  of 
April  30,  1818,  Manchester  Correspondence.) 

2  The  address  of  September  19  (reprinted  in  Autobiography,  Vol.  Ia, 
pp.  138-41)  was  not  published  in  the  Times.  It  appears,  however,  in 
No.  III.  of  a  series  of  contemporary  broadsheets  (undated).  No.  III. 
contains  the  Second  Address  (of  August  21),  the  letter  of  September  lo, 
and  this  short  address,  and  bears  on  the  outer  cover  an  intimation  that 
it  was  to  be  purchased  from  Dr.  Wilkes,  New  State  of  Society  Enrolment 
Office,  Temple  Chambers.  I  cannot  ascertain  whether  this  office  was 
ever  opened,  or  whether  the  Mirror  of  Truth,  a  fortnightly  paper 
announced  in  the  address  of  September  19,   ever  made  its  appearance. 

It  should  be  added  that  a  postscript  to  the  letter  of  September  10, 
explaining  that  Owen  was  not  an  enemy  to  true  religion,  but  merely  to 
all  sectarian  manifestations  of  the  religious  spirit,  which  appears  in  the 
Autobiography,  (Vol.  Ia,  p.  137),  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  original  letter  as 
published  in  the  Ti7nes,  nor  in  the  contemporary  broadsheet. 


i5l  ROBERT   OWEN 

tract,  the  sketch  of  the  Shaker  communities  already 
referred  to,  together  with  the  Report  of  March,  1817, 
and  the  public  addresses  and  letters  to  the  newspapers 
of  the  same  year.  He  also  wrote  in  March,  181 8,  the 
two  letters  to  Lord  Liverpool  and  the  Master  Manu- 
facturers respectively,  on  the  Employment  of  Children 
in  Factories  ;  and  in  May  of  the  same  year  he  indited 
from  New  Lanark  a  long  letter  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  on   the   Union  of  Churches  and   Schools. 

A  great  part  of  the  summer  and  autumn  of  this  year, 
I  81  8,  was  spent  in  a  Continental  tour,  under  the  guidance 
for  some  months  of  Professor  Pictet,  himself  a  well-known 
savant,  and  member  of  a  Genevan  family  distinguished 
for  two  or  three  generations  in  scientific  investigation. 
Pictet  introduced  Owen  to  Cuvier,  who  was  at  the  time 
in  London,  and  they  went  to  Paris  together.  Owen 
carried  letters  of  introduction  from  the  Duke  of  Kent 
to  the  Duke  of  Orleans  (afterwards  King  Louis-Philippe), 
with  whom  he  held  a  long  and  confidential  conversation, 
and  to  other  personages.  In  the  company  of  Cuvier 
and  Pictet  he  had  frequent  meetings  with  La  Place, 
Humboldt  and  other  men  of  science,  paid  a  visit  to 
the  Academy,  and  conversed  with  many  of  the  most 
distinguished  men  and  women  in  Paris. 

After  six  weeks  Owen  was  joined  by  his  sisters-in-law, 
and,  accompanied  by  Pictet,  the  whole  party  set  out  for 
Geneva.  They  drove  across  the  Jura,  and  Owen  records 
one  amusing  little  Incident  on  the  journey.  The  weather 
being  fine,  the  whole  party  got  out  to  walk,  the  young 
women  in  front,  Owen  and  Pictet  conversing  at  some 
distance  behind.  The  two  latter  in  passing  a  group  of 
well-dressed  young  women  at  the  door  of  a  house,  heard 


i8i7— i8i9  253 

them  making  merry  over  the  outlandish  garb — riding 
habits  and  hats  of  the  late  Georgian  era — worn  by  the 
English  ladies.  On  rejoining  his  sisters-in-law  Owen 
tell  us  that  he  was  much  amused  to  receive  in  turn 
their  comments  on  the  ridiculous  costume  worn  by  the 
natives  whom  they  had  just  passed. 

At  Geneva  Owen  met  Madame  Neckar,  Madmoiselle 
de  Stael,  Sismondi,  and  others.  From  thence  he  went 
on  to  pay  the  visits  already  mentioned  ^  to  the  schools  of 
Oberlin,  Pestalozzi,  and  Fellenberg. 

At  Frankfort  Owen  wrote  two  Memorials — one  dated 
September  20,  18 18,  to  the  Governments  of  Europe 
and  America,  the  other  dated  October  22,  to  the  Allied 
Powers  assembled  in  Congress  at  Aix-la-Chapelle.  He 
met  there  many  prominent  statesmen  and  politicians  and 
expounded  his  system  to  the  members  of  the  Germanic 
Diet  at  a  banquet  given,  as  he  tells  us,  in  his  honour. 
Here  too  he  introduced  himself  to  the  Czar  (Alexander 
I.,  elder  brother  of  Owen's  guest,  the  Grand  Duke 
Nicholas)  as  the  latter  was  leaving  his  hotel,  and  offered 
him  a  copy  of  the  two  Memorials.  The  Czar  had  no 
pocket  big  enough  to  hold  the  papers  and  refused  to 
accept  them  at  the  moment,  asking  Owen  to  call  on 
him  that  evening.  The  brusqueness  of  his  tone  offended 
Owen,  and  he  refrained  from  accepting  the  invitation. 
Owen  entrusted  copies  of  his  Memorial,  however,  to 
Lord  Castlereaghj  one  of  the  British  representatives  at 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  to  present  to  the  Congress,  and  he 
learnt  afterwards  from  various  sources  that  they  were 
considered  to  be  amongst  the  most  important  documents 
laid  before  that  assembly.^ 
^  Above  pages  126-8.  -  Autobiography ^  Vol.  I.,  pp.  186,  188. 


2  54  ROBERT   OWEN 

These  Memorials  recapitulated  briefly  the  main  points 
of  the  argument  developed  at  length  in  the  Essays  on 
the  Formation  of  Character^  and  the  Addresses  of  1817, 
in  a  series  of  three  propositions  : — 

(i)  That  the  introduction  of  niachincry  had  rendered 
possible  the  production  of  riches  enough  and  much  more 
than  enough  for  all  human  wants. 

(2)  That  mankind  now  possessed  the  requisite  means 
and  knowledge  to  enable  them  to  mould  to  their  will  the 
characters  of  the   next  generation. 

(3)  That  it  is  to  the  interest  of  Governments  and 
individuals  to  put  that  knowledge  into  practice  without 
delay. 

The  Memorials  were  carefully  and  temperately  worded. 
There  is  no  mention  of  quadrangular  villages,  or  the 
pernicious  influence  of  religion  ;  and  the  egotism  which 
marked  the  addresses  of  1817  is  almost  entirely  absent. 
But  nothing  can  repress  Owen's  optimism. 

"  Any  attempt,"  he  writes,  "  to  stop  or  retard  the 
introduction  of  these  measures  will  be  unavailing.  Already 
the  principles  and  consequent  practice  are  placed  efl^ectu- 
ally  beyond  the  power  of  human  assault.  It  will  be 
found  that  silence  cannot  now  retard  their  progress, 
and  that  opposition  will  give  increased  celerity  to  their 
movements.'  * 

In  1 819  Owen  renewed  his  propaganda.  In  the 
early  part  of  that  year  he  wrote  an  Address  to  the 
Working  Classes  which  was  published  at  length  in  two 
London  papers — the  Star'  and  the  Examiner.'^  In 
making  an   appeal   to  one  particular  section   of  the  com- 

'  Autobiography,  \o\.  I  a,  p.   212. 
'  April  15,   1819.  '  April  25,   1819. 


i8i7 — 1819  255 

munity,  Owen  is  careful  to  explain  that  he  does  not 
seek  to  set  class  against  class.  He  takes  occasion  to 
assure  the  working  classes,  from  personal  knowledge, 
that  the  rich  are  not  animated  by  any  ill-will  against 
them,  but  like  them  are  bound  in  the  chains  of  traditional 
habits  and  sentiments.  His  message  to  the  workers  is 
that,  properly  understood,  the  interest  of  rich  and  poor 
is  the  same ;  that  the  prevalent  ideas  and  existing 
social  arrangements  are  destructive  of  the  well-being 
of  all  alike  ;  and  that  the  true  knowledge  of  human 
nature  and  its  potentialities,  now  at  length  revealed, 
furnishes  the  means  of  a  complete  social  revolution,  to 
be  effected  without  violence,  with  the  help  and  good- 
will of  all  alike.  The  address  ends  with  a  characteristic 
sentence. 

"  That  the  past  ages  of  the  world  present  the  history 
of  human  irrationality  only,  and  that  we  are  but  now 
advancing  toward  the  dawn  of  reason,  and  to  the 
period  when  the  mind  of  man  shall  be  born  again." 

The  address  seems  to  have  excited  little  attention, 
though  the  Examiner  had  a  friendly  leader  on  the 
subject.  But  an  effort  was  made  by  Owen's  friends  in 
the  latter  part  of  this  year  to  bring  his  plans  once  more 
before  the  public.  The  most  influential  of  these  friends 
was  the  Duke  of  Kent,  son  of  George  III.  and  father 
of  Queen  Victoria.  The  Duke  appears  to  have  been 
genuinely  impressed  by  Owen's  character,  and  convinced 
of  his  power  for  good.  The  Duke,  with  his  brother, 
the  Duke  of  Sussex,  was  in  the  habit  at  this  time,  as 
Owen  tells  us,  of  coming  to  his  house  and  discussing 
his  social  experiments  with  him.  The  two  brothers 
would  inspect  the  model  of  the  new  villages,  and  marvel 


256  ROBERT   OWEN 

at  the  set  of  eight  cubes  which  Owen  had  caused  to  be 
made,  illustrating  the  proportions  of  the  different  classes 
into  which  existing  society  was  divided — the  working 
classes  being  represented  at  the  base  by  a  cube  of  3^ 
inches  a  side,  whilst  the  apex  was  formed  by  a  cube, 
representing  the  Royal  P'amily,  the  Lords  spiritual  and 
temporal,  whose  side  measured  only  three-sixteenths  of 
an   inch.^ 

Further,  it  appeared  that  Owen  had  interested  himself 
in  the  endeavour  to  straighten  out  the  Duke's  finances. 
The  letters  written  by  the  Duke  to  Owen  in  this  year 
show  the  terms  upon  which  the  two  men  stood  to  each 
other.  Thus  on  September  13,  1819,  the  Duke 
wrote,  in  answer  to  a  letter  from  Owen,  "  With  regard 
to  my  own  finances,  I  admit  the  justice  of  all  you  say," 
and  then  proceeded  to  recount  his  efforts  to  live  within 
his  income,  and  to  explain  the  extreme  difficulty,  in  his 
position,  of  effecting  any  substantial  retrenchment  in 
the  expenses  of  his  establishment.^ 

A  few  weeks  later  Owen  invited  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  to  accept  his  hospitality  at  New  Lanark.  The  in- 
vitation came  a  few  months  after  the  birth  of  the  infant 

'  The  series  of  cubes  (nine  in  all,  since  they  included  a  cube  repre- 
senting the  whole  population,  ^\q  inches  a  side)  was  based  upon 
Table  No.  4,  "  An  attempt  to  Exhibit  a  General  view  of  Society,"  given 
in  Colquhoun's  Resources  of  the  British  Empire,  first  published  in 
1814.  Owen  gives  at  least  two  descriptions  of  the  series  of  cubes, 
(i)  in  the  Millennial  Gazette  for  August  i,  1857,  p.  77,  where  the  numeri- 
cal proportions  are  given,  and  (2)  in  Robert  Owen's  Journal,  Vol.  III., 
p.  191,  where  the  sizes  of  the  cubes  are  stated.  The  two  tables  do  not 
quite  agree  with  each  other,  and  neither  appears  exactly  to  correspond 
with  the  figures  given  in  Colquhoun's  published  work  ;  but  the  essential 
point  is  that  society  is  represented  in  a  pyramidal  form,  the  wealth  and 
dignities  and  privileges  of  the  few  rich  broadbased  upon  the  millions  of 
the  industrious  classes. 

'  The  letter  is  given  in  full  in  the  Rational  Quarterly  Review,  p.  28. 


i8i7 — 1819  257 

Victoria/  and  the  Duke,  in  a  letter  dated  October  8, 
excuses  himself  at  the  moment  from  accepting  the 
invitation  on  account  of  the  Duchess's  health,  adding, 
*'  but  if,  upon  the  Meeting  of  Parliament  things  take 
that  turn  which  it  is  to  be  hoped  they  will  do — viz  : 
that  your  judicious  plans  to  remedy  the  evil  of  the 
want  of  productive  employment  are  taken  up  by  the 
Government,  or  the  majority  of  independent  members, 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  ensure  them  a  fair  discussion, 
there  will  be  no  difficulty  whatever,  even  if  the  Duchess 
should  be  unable  to  accompany  me  on  account  of  the 
season  of  the  year,  for  me  to  run  over  by  myself  and 
make  myself  so  far  master  of  the  whole  system,  as  to 
be  able  to  deliver  my  sentiments  upon  it. 

*'  With  respect  to  myself,  be  assured  that  I  consider 
the  trouble  and  fatigue  of  the  journey  as  nothing:  nor 
would  the  Duchess,  but  for  the  critical  moment  for  her 
health,  immediately  after  nursing,  which  requires  so 
much  attention. 

*'  With  regard  to  the  plam  and  simple  accommodation 
you  will  have  to  offer  us,  I  speak  equally  her  feelings  and 
my  own,  when  I  say  it  is  what  we  should  prefer  to  any 
other,  accompanied  by  the  sincerity  of  that  welcome 
which  we  know  Mrs.  Owen  and  yourself  would  give  us. 

*'  For  my  own  part  I  am  already  convinced  that  what 
I  should  see  on  the  spot  would  amply  repay  me  for  any 
little  trouble  and  expense  the  journey  might  occasion 
me  ;  and  the  Duchess  is  as  much  prepossessed  in  favour 
of  the  thing  as  I  am."  ^ 

Sir  W.  de  Crespigny's  motion  was  lost  in  the  House 


^  May  24,    1819, 

*  Rational  Quarterly  Review^  p.  32. 


VOL.    I. 


:»58  ROBERT   OWEN 

of  Commons,  and  no  debate  seems  to  have  been  initiated 
in  the  Lords,  so  that  the  opportunity  never  came  for  the 
Duke  to  fulfil  his  promise,  and  his  sudden  death  in  the 
following  year,    1820,   put  an  end  to  the  project. 

Much  of  the  correspondence  with  the  Duke  is 
occupied  with  the  visits  to  New  Lanark  of  General 
Desseaux,  Sir  W.  de  Crcspigny  and  others,  of  the  pro- 
jected visit  of  "  my  illustrious  relative.  Prince  Leopold," 
and  of  the  advent  of  Dr.  Grey  Macnab,  the  Duke's  own 
physician,  whom  he  had  despatched  to  New  Lanark  to 
examine  and  report  upon  the  establishment.  Macnab's 
enthusiastic  account,  already  referred  to,  and  the  Duke's 
patronage  no  doubt  did  much  to  rehabilitate  Owen's 
reputation  amongst  many  who  had  been  alienated  by  his 
proceedings  in    181 7. 

But  the  Duke  did  more  to  help  on  the  cause.  On 
June  26  of  this  year  1819,  a  meeting  was  held  under 
his  presidency  in  the  Freemasons'  Hall,  to  appoint  a 
committee  to  report  upon  Owen's  plan.  In  his  opening 
remarks  the  Duke  dwelt  upon  the  fact  that,  whatever 
Owen's  private  opinions  might  be,  he  allowed  the  fullest 
religious  liberty  to  all  at  New  Lanark.  But  he  seems 
to  have  spoken  in  vain.  The  names  of  the  Archbishop 
and  several  bishops  were  proposed  for  the  committee, 
but  in  the  final  list  of  the  committee  published  a  few 
days  later,  the  Lords  Spiritual  are  not  represented.  For 
the  rest,  the  committee  included  the  Dukes  of  Kent 
and  Sussex,  Sir  W.  de  Crespigny,  Sir  Robert  Peel,  John 
Smith  and  several  other  Members  of  Parliament,  Major 
Torrens,  and  David   Ricardo. 

On  August  II,  the  committee  issued  an  appeal  to 
the  public  for  subscriptions,  in  order  that  an  experimental 


i8i7 — 1019  259 

establishment  might  be  started.  The  amount  needed 
for  the  experiment  was  ^^  100,000.  On  August  23  they 
published  an  address,  ■  explaining  and  justifying  their 
confidence  in  Owen's  plan.  The  address  begins  by  in- 
sisting upon  Owen's  long  experience  in  the  management 
of  men  and  of  business  concerns,  and  describing  in  outline 
the  results  achieved  at  New  Lanark  under  his  direction. 
The  only  new  point  made  here  is  that  a  certain  portion 
of  land  at  New  Lanark  was  kept  under  garden  cultivation 
by  the  mill  operatives,^  and  that  the  proposed  villages  of 
co-operation  would  differ  from  New  Lanark  mainly  in 
the  proportions  assigned  to  agriculture  and  manufactures 
respectively.  The  address  then  proceeded  to  state  and 
answer  certain  objections  which  had  been  raised  to  the 
scheme.  The  first  and  greatest  difficulty  is  presented 
by  Owen's  unfortunately  notorious  opinions  in  religious 
matters.  On  this  the  committee  remark  that  Owen  had 
never  been  known  to  interfere  with  the  religious  opinions 
of  those  in  his  employment ;  that  he  and  his  partners 
had  for  many  years  paid  for  the  services  of  a  Gaelic- 
speaking  minister,  to  provide  for  the  religious  needs 
of  the  'Highland  workmen  :  ''  that  Mr.  Owen's  own 
house  is  a  house  of  daily  prayer  ;  that  he  is  the  father 
of  a  large  and  well-regulated  moral  family  ;  that  his 
conduct  appears  to  be  free  from  reproach,  and  that  his 
character  is  distinguished  by  active  benevolence,  perfect 
sincerity,  and  undisturbed  tranquillity  of  temper." 

To  the  objection  that  Owen's  plan  involved  a  com- 
munity of  goods,  the  reply  is  made  that,  whatever  Owen 

^  The  amount  of  land  under  cultivation  at  New  Lanark  was  small. 
From  the  report  of  the  Leeds  Deputation  we  learn  that  it  amounted  to 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  for  a  population  of  two  thousand  five 
hundred  persons. 


26o  ROBERT   OWEN 

may  have  said  or  written  about  communism,  he  does  not 
rceard  it  as  an  essential  feature  of  his  plan,  nor  would 
he  withhold  his  co-operation  and  superintendence  from 
the  experiment  if  communism  were  vetoed.^  Further, 
there  need  he  no  anxiety  on  this  score,  since  community 
of  profits  from  land  is  not  possible  under  the  existing 
laws.  The  objection  that  the  plan  contemplates  equalisa- 
tion of  ranks,  and  the  still  more  serious  objection  to  the 
proposed  scheme  on  Malthusian  principles,  alike  fall  to 
the  ground  if  there  is  to  be  no  community  of  goods, 
but  each  man  is  to  receive  the  reward  of  his  own  labour, 
and  the  due  profit  of  his  invested  capital — neither  less 
nor  more. 

The  proposal  to  have  meals  in  common  may  seem 
to  savour  of  communism  ;  but  it  is  really,  the  committee 
explain,  a  matter  simply  of  convenience  and  economy ; 
a  common  table  need  not  be  insisted  upon  ;  ''  the  work- 
men might  receive  their  wages  in  money,  and  the  mode 

*  Owen's  original  plan  was  purely  communistic.  The  principle  on 
which  it  was  founded  was  that  of  "  combined  labour  and  expenditure  "  ; 
the  colonists  were  to  labour  in  a  "  community  of  interests"  ;  there  would 
be  no  disputes  about  the  division  of  property,  because  all  could  procure 
"  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life  in  abundance,"  and  would  no  more 
wish  to  accumulate  an  excess  of  such  goods,  than  they  wish  in  the  present 
state  of  society  to  take  more  than  their  share  of  water  or  air.  Even 
the  superintendents  and  governors  were  to  work  without  salary  (Report 
reprinted  in  Autobiography,  Vol.  Ia,  pp.  71,  72,  etc.).  Later,  in  his  letter 
of  September  6,  in  classifying  the  members  of  the  proposed  communities 
according  to  the  property  which  they  brought  in  with  them,  Owen  de- 
parted from  the  simplicity  of  his  original  plan.  Men  who  contributed 
capital  were  to  have  superior  accommodation,  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  their  capital  ;  and  the  workmen  of  the  2nd  Class,  by  whose  labour 
the  rich  were  to  be  supported,  were  to  receive  at  the  end  of  five  years 
£\oo,  to  invest  in  the  community,  or  to  enable  them  to  start  in  the 
outside  world  if  they  wish  to  leave  the  communal  life.  But  even  here 
Owen  does  not  apparently  contemplate  the  actual  payment  of  wages 
or  that  there  would  be  any  need  for  money  within  the  community. 


i8i7 — 1819  261 

In  which  they  dispose  of  them  would  be  entirely  at  their 
own  option." 

In  brief,  the  committee  contemplated  a  joint-stock 
enterprise  on  a  large  scale,  which  should  pay  interest 
and  profit  on  capital  and  wages  to  labour  ;  an  enterprise 
differing  from  ordinary  commercial  enterprises  mainly 
in  its  novel  combination  of  agricultural  and  manu- 
facturing pursuits,  and  in  the  character  of  its  labourers. 
The  ordinary  business  house  takes  its  labourers  in  the 
prime  of  life  and  takes  the  best  it  can  get.  This  novel 
commercial  enterprise,  which  repudiated  the  title  of 
charitable,  was  to  find  its  recruits  amongst  the  ranks 
of  the  unemployed  poor — the  men  and  women  who  had 
so  far  failed  in  the  battle  of  life.  Owen's  original 
scheme  was  no  doubt  Utopian  in  so  far  as  it  took  too 
little  account  of  the  existing  facts  of  human  nature. 
Moreover,  it  was  based  on  fundamentally  false  premises. 
Its  author's  imagination  had  been  entirely  dominated 
by  the  enormous  multiplication  of  productive  power  in 
the  region  of  manufactures  brought  about  by  the 
mechanical  inventions  of  the  past  generation.  And  he 
seems  tacitly  to  have  assumed  that  new  inventions  would 
be  forthcoming  which  would  in  like  manner  multiply 
the  productiveness  of  human  labour  when  applied  to 
the  soil.  The  spinning-jenny  and  the  mule  enabled  the 
men  of  Owen's  generation  to  spin  fifty-  or  a  hundred-fold 
the  amount  of  yarn  which  their  fathers  could  produce 
with  their  utmost  toil  ;  the  further  progress  of  invention 
would  no  doubt  enable  their  sons  to  extract  from  the 
earth  tenfold  or  a  hundredfold  the  present  harvests. 
Implicitly  this  fallacious  analogy  dominated  all  Owen's 
reasonings,  and  formed  the  economic  justification  for  his 


262  ROBERT    OWEN 

Utopian  schemes.  But  if  his  premises  are  granted, 
Owen's  scheme  can  hardly  be  described  as  simply  Utopian. 
For  it  insisted,  as  the  first  condition  of  the  New  Society, 
on  the  proper  training  of  all  its  members  ;  and  it  made 
its  appeal  to  the  nobler  instincts  of  human  nature.  Owen 
said  in  effect,  ''  You  can,  if  you  will,  train  man  to  be  a 
social  animal,  and  to  obey  only  social  instincts  ;  and 
with  men  so  trained  a  community  such  as  I  propose 
cannot  tail  of  success." 

The  committee  of  1819  did  nothing  to  correct  the 
fundamental  fallacy  of  Owen's  economic  reasoning  :  they 
thrust  almost  out  of  sight  the  condition  which  he  had 
insisted  upon  as  an  essential  preliminary — the  training 
of  the  children  ;  and  they  made  their  appeal,  not  to 
the  larger  and  finer  nature  which  Owen  hoped  to  evoke 
in  his  future  colonists,  but  to  the  men  and  women  of  the 
market-place. 

Such  a  scheme  was  open  to  many  of  the  economic 
objections  which  could  be  urged  against  Owen's  plan, 
and  it  lacked  altogether  Owen's  wider  outlook,  and  the 
almost  prophetic  fervour  which  had  inspired  his  advocacy. 
The  committee's  appeal  could  inspire  no  man.  Philan- 
thropy plus  5  per  cent,  responded  by  off'ering  less  than 
eight  thousand  towards  the  hundred  thousand  pounds 
which  was  needed  ;  and  the  committee  met  for  the  last 
time  on  December  i,  1819,  to  declare  their  failure, 
and  to  pass  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Duke  of  Kent  for 
his  ''condescending  kindness"  in  presiding  at  their 
meetings. 

Three  other  events  of  this  year  fall  to  be  noted.  In 
August  a  deputation  of  three  gentlemen,  Mr.  Edward 
Baines,    Mr.    Robert    Oastler    and    Mr.    John    Cawood, 


i8i7 — 1819  263 

visited    New  Lanark    for    the    purpose    of   reporting    to 
the    Guardians   of  the  Poor  at  Leeds   on   the  nature  of 
the    establishment,   with   the    view    of  adopting    Owen's 
plan   for   the  employment   of   the    poor.     Their    report, 
extracts    from    which    have    been    given    in    a    previous 
chapter,    was    entirely    favourable.       On     December     16 
Sir  W.  de  Crespigny  moved  in  the  House  of  Commons 
for  the  appointment   of  a  Select   Committee  to  enquire 
into  Owen's  proposals   for  the  amelioration  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  lower  classes.     The    motion  was    seconded 
by     Lord     Archibald     Hamilton,     and     supported     by 
Brougham,  John  Smith,  Ricardo,  and  Alderman  Wood. 
It    was    opposed    by    the    Chancellor   of  the   Exchequer 
and    Wilberforce.       All    the    speakers    paid    tribute    of 
respect   to   Owen's  high  character  and  to  the   excellence 
of  his  work  at  New  Lanark.     The  opposition  was  based 
less    on     economic    than    on    religious    grounds.       The 
Chancellor  read  to  the  House  the  extract  quoted  in  the 
earlier    part    of    the    present    chapter    from    the    address 
of  August  21,    1 8 17,  in  which    Owen    had    denounced 
all   religions.     And  Wilberforce  contended  that  all    that 
was  good  in  the  state  of  New  Lanark  was  due  less  to 
Owen's  wise  government  than  to  "  the  good  old  system 
of   Christianity."       In    the    event    the    motion    was    lost 
by  a  hundred  and  forty-one  to  sixteen. 

In  the  spring  of  the  year  Sir  J.  Buchanan  Riddle, 
the  member  for  the  united  boroughs  of  Lanark,  Selkirk, 
Peebles  and  Linlithgow,  died,  and  Owen  declared  himself 
a  candidate  for  the  vacant  seat.  In  his  address,  dated 
April  24,  1 8 19,  and  issued  from  49,  Bedford  Square, 
London,  he  bases  his  claim  to  represent  the  boroughs 
on  his   extensive  experience   and  his  knowledge   of  the 


264  ROBERT   OWEN 

true  remedies  for  the  existing  distress.^  He  was  not 
elected,  owing,  as  he  tells  us,  to  his  many  public  engage- 
ments in  London  preventing  the  necessary  prosecution 
of  his  candidature.  At  the  general  election  which  took 
place  on  the  death  of  the  King  early  in  the  following  year 
he  appears  to  have  stood  again,  but  with  like  want  of 
success.  His  failure  on  this  second  occasion  is  attributed 
in  his  Autobigraphy  to  the  fact  that  some  of  the  old 
Lanark  voters  were  won  over  by  the  bribes  of  his 
opponents.  He  was,  however,  assured  beforehand  of 
the  support  of  the  Magistrates  and  Town  Council  of 
Linlithgow;  and  on  March  3,  1820,  i.e.  ten  days 
before  the  dissolution  of  Parliament,  he  was  entertained 
at  a  public  dinner  by  the  inhabitants  of  Lanark." 

'  See  the  address  published  in  Autobiography,  Vol.  Ia,  p.  332. 

'  Autobiography,  Vol.  Ia,  pp.  334,  335.  Owen's  own  account  of  his 
candidature  {Autobiography,  Vol.  Ia,  p.  226  seq)  is  rather  confused.  But 
it  seems  clear,  from  the  contemporary  documents,  that  his //Vj'/ candidature 
occurred  on  the  death  of  Sir  J.  B.  Riddle,  in  April,  1819,  ^^^  ^'S  second 
candidature  probably  took  place  at  the  General  Election  of  the  following 
year. 


CHAPTER    XII 

REPORT    TO    THE    COUNTY   OF  LANARK 

HITHERTO  Owen  had  dwelt  mainly  on  the  ethical 
aspect  of  the  problem  which  he  had  set  himself 
to  solve.  Through  the  lately  won  knowledge  of  the 
formation  of  character,  human  nature,  he  had  proclaimed, 
could  be  fashioned  anew  :  the  vicious  could  be  made 
well-disposed,  the  turbulent  could  be  made  peaceful,  the 
idle  industrious.  The  economic  aspects  of  the  problem 
had  been  almost  completely  left  out  of  count.  He 
had  himself  grown  rich,  and  had  seen  other  men 
grow  rich,  almost  without  effort  or  volition  of  their 
own  ;  his  own  workpeople  at  New  Lanark  could  at 
the  present  time  produce  more  cotton  than  the  whole 
county — perhaps  the  whole  kingdom — could  have  pro- 
duced when  he  was  a  child.  He  saw  no  reason  to  doubt 
that  the  mechanical  inventions  which  had  thus  multiplied 
the  productivity  of  human  labour  in  the  processes  of 
manufacture  could  as  readily  multiply  the  produce  of  the 
same  labour  when  applied  to  the  soil.  At  New  Lanark, 
as  we  have  seen,  a  widow  with  many  young  children 
was  a  desirable  prize  in  the  marriage  market.  Owen  was 
fully  persuaded  that  there  was  enough  and  to  spare  for 
all,  and  that,  as  in  the  small  corner  of  the  world's 
market  with  which  he  was  familiar,  new  mouths  would 

»65 


266  ROBERT   OWEN 

all   the   world   over   continue   to  bring  with   them  hands 
more  than  sufficient  to  provide  for  their  wants. 

Strong  in  this  belief  he  felt  that  he  could  afford  to 
launch  at  Malthus,  and  to  neglect  nice  calculations  of 
supply  and  demand.  So  little  indeed  had  he  considered 
his  new  State  of  Society  from  the  economic  standpoint, 
that  he  had  not  even  made  it  clear  whether  his  villages 
of  co-operation  were  to  be  self-sufficient,  producing  only 
for  their  own  consumption,  or  whether  they  were  to 
enc;age  in  commerce  with  other  communities  outside  or 
even  with  the  world  at  large.  Probably  he  was  too  little 
versed  in  such  matters  to  realise  that  the  question  had 
more  than  an  academic  interest.  But  his  position  had 
been  definitely  challenged  by  the  economists  at  the 
meetings  in  1817  ;  and  again  on  July  26,  1819,  Major 
Torrens  had  renewed  the  attack.  Torrens's  speech  at 
this  last  meeting  was  afterwards  amplified  into  an 
article,  which  appeared  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  for 
October,  and  which  fairly  presents  the  case  against  Owen's 
scheme  from  the  standpoint  of  the  orthodox  economy 
of  the  day.^  The  reviewer  points  out  that  Owen  had 
apparently  not  made  up  his  mind  on  what  basis  the 
villages  were  to  stand — whether  to  consume  all  their  own 
products  and  thus  be  self-suflicing,  or  whether  to  engage 
in  commerce  with  the  outside.^  In  the  former  event, 
the  reviewer  pointed  out,  since  the   number  of  workmen 

'  The  article  in  the  Editiburgh  was  of  course  anonymous,  but  it 
reproduces  so  exactly  not  merely  the  arguments,  but  in  many  cases  the 
very  phrases  used  in  Torrens's  speech  as  reported  in  the  Times  (July  27, 
1819),  that  it  seems  safe  to  attribute  it  to  that  gentleman. 

»  At  the  meeting  of  July  26,  Torrens  had  actually  asked  the 
(juestion  "Are  th(?  commodities  produced  to  be  consumed  in  the  villages, 
or  sent  to  market  ?"  and  Owen  had  replied,  "  It  is  so  arranged  it  may  be 
one  or  the  other  "  [Times,  July  27,  1819). 


IT  IS  OF  ALL  TRUTHS  THE  MOST   IMPORTANT  THAT   THE  CHARA('TEH  OF  MAN 
IS  FORMED  FOR  AND  NOT  BY  HIM . 


^oo-C>~e^r/^    CJ^.c 


^c-eyyfy. 


^ 


'/-t?^?a'  yc^^?^■ 


a/}7^ -u^fz/orUHi^'ny  a/y. 


/.cU. 


\      TMC  N;rvV  VCrX 

\  PUBLIC  ! 
r 


L  \ i_] 


REPORT  TO  THE  COUNTY  OF  LANARK     267 

in  a  community  would  not  permit  of  a  proper  subdivision 
of  labour,  such  as  that  required  by  our  present  manu- 
facturing processes,  the  cost  of  production  would  be 
much  higher  than  in  the  outside  world.  If,  however, 
the  community  gave  up  the  ideal  of  being  self-sufficing 
and  set  itself  to  procure  some  of  the  commodities  needed 
for  its  own  consumption  by  exchanging  some  of  its  own 
surplus  products,  then  it  would  at  once  become  subject 
to  the  very  fluctuations  and  perturbations  of  the  market 
from  which  it  was  Owen's  aim  to  save  his  colonists. 
Moreover,  if  the  community  wished  to  exchange  on 
equal  terms,  it  must  consider  all  such  questions  as 
position  with  regard  to  the  market,  facilities  for  con- 
veyance, fitness  of  soil  and  climate  for  the  particular  kind 
of  manufacture  or  agriculture  the  products  of  which  it 
proposed  to  exchange. 

Criticism  of  this  kind  apparently  forced  upon  Owen 
the  necessity  of  defining  his  position.  An  opportunity 
presented  itself  in  the  following  year.  In  May,  1820, 
Owen  drew  up  by  request  a  long  Report  on  his  plan 
for  relieving  public  distress,  which  was  laid  before  a 
committee  of  the  county  of  Lanark.  The  report  is 
of  value  as  setting  forth  for  the  first  time  a  clear 
and  comprehensive  statement  of  his  economic  views, 
and  of  the  industrial  organisation  of  the  proposed 
villages. 

Owen  begins  with  an  attempt  to  justify  the  assump- 
tion already  referred  to,  as  underlying  his  whole  position. 
He  seeks  to  show  by  a  particular  instance  how  the 
product  of  the  soil  could  be  multiplied  by  mechanical 
inventions,  as  the  product  of  the  spinning-wheel  had 
already  been    multiplied.     In    the    report  of  their  visit 


268  ROBERT   OWEN 

to  New  Lanark  in  August,  1819,  which  the  Leeds 
deputation  had  presented  to  the  Guardians  of  the  Poor 
in  that  town,  attention  had  been  drawn  to  some  ex- 
periments made  by  a  Mr.  Falla  of  Gateshead  in  sub- 
stituting the  spade  for  the  plough  as  a  means  of  breaking 
up  the  land  and  preparing  it  for  sowing.  Falla  was  a 
nursery  gardener,  and  naturally  therefore  used  the  spade 
for  cultivating  his  land.  But  being  forced  on  occasion, 
for  want  of  labour,  to  make  use  of  the  plough,  he  had 
been  much  struck  by  the  inferiority  of  the  results 
produced,  and  determined  on  a  practical  experiment. 
His  neighbour's  land,  broken  up  by  the  plough  and  sown 
broadcast,  produced  in  18 19  under  favourable  circum- 
stances a  crop  of  wheat  representing  about  thirty-eight 
bushels  to  the  acre.  This  was  regarded  as  decidedly 
above  the  average.  Falla's  land,  he  tells  us,  was  of 
slightly  inferior  quality,  and  not  more  highly  manured. 
Nevertheless,  by  using  the  spade  to  work  the  soil,  and 
sowing  the  seed  in  drills,  he  succeeded  in  two  successive 
years,  18 19  and  1820,  in  raising  a  crop  which  averaged 
between  sixty-five  and  seventy  bushels  to  the  acre.  As 
the  cost  in  the  case  of  spade  labour  but  slightly  exceeded, 
on  Falia's  calculation,  the  cost  of  working  the  land  by 
the  plough,  the  result  was  to  raise  the  net  profit  by  more 
than  50  per  cent.  The  result  is  no  doubt  interesting 
as  far  as  it  goes  ;  but  of  course  no  single  experiment  of 
the  kind  can  be  regarded  as  crucial,  and  the  conditions 
of  the  particular  experiment  leave  much  to  be  desired. 
The  land  with  which  the  comparison  was  made  was  not 
India's  own  ;  and  he  was  hardly  in  a  position  therefore 
to  institute  an  exact  comparison  of  the  amount  of  manure 
used,    and    other    conditions    of    the    experiment.     And 


REPORT  TO  THE  COUNTY  OF  LANARK     269 

above  all,  no  comparison  of  this  kind  instituted  for  a 
limited  period  can  be  other  than  fallacious  ;  for  it  leaves 
out  of  account  what  is,  after  all,  the  most  important 
factor,  the  relative  exhaustion  of  the  soil  by  the  two 
methods.  The  Rothamsted  experiments  have  taught  us 
that,  in  the  long  run,  we  take  out  from  the  soil  in  the 
form  of  grain  a  fairly  exact  equivalent  for  what  we 
have  put  into  it  in  the  form  of  manure.  And  the 
farmers  of  England,  who  have  had  the  results  of  Falla's 
observations  before  them  for  more  than  eighty  years, 
have  not  yet  discarded  the  plough  in  favour  of  the 
spade.^ 

Nevertheless  it  is  on  the  result  of  this  single  and 
inconclusive  experiment  that  Owen  proceeds  to  base  a 
new  theory  of  agriculture.  His  readiness  to  generalise 
from  such  meagre  data  indicates  perhaps  that  he  had 
at  length  realised  the  need  for  justifying  the  economic 
assumptions  which  underlay  his  schemes.  After  giving 
a  full  account  of  Falla's  experiment,  and  of  the  causes 
which  contributed  to  the  alleged  superiority  of  the  spade 
over  the  plough,  Owen  proceeds  to  explain  that  the 
cultivators  of  the  soil  have  hitherto  persisted  in  using 
the  plough  through  ignorance  and  prejudice.  Moreover 
spade  husbandry  requires  higher  qualities  than  our 
farmers  at  present  possess  :  since  the  labour  to  be  directed 
is  that  of  men,  not  of  animals,  a  knowledge  of  human 
nature  and  its  attributes  is  required.  "  Closet  theorists 
.  and  inexperienced  persons  suppose  that  to  exchange 
the  plough  for  the  spade  would  be  to  turn  back  in  the 

^  A  letter  from  Falla  detailing  the  results  of  his  experiments  is  ap- 
pended to  the  Report  to  the  Coimty  of  Lanark  (reprinted  in  Autobiography^ 
Vol.  Ia,  pp.  314-20). 


270  ROBERT   OWExM 

road  of  improvement, — to  give  up  a  superior  for  an 
inferior  implement  of  cultivation.  Little  do  they  imagine 
that  the  introduction  of  the  spade,  with  the  scientific 
arrangements  it  requires,  will  produce  far  greater  im- 
provements in  agriculture,  than  the  steam  engine  has 
effected  in  manufactures."  It  will  prove  more  fruitful 
than  all  the  inventions  of  Crompton  and  Arkwright. 
And  this  extraordinary  change  is  even  now  at  hand. 
"  It  will  immediately  take  place  ;  for  the  interest  and 
well-being  of  all  classes  require  it.  Society  cannot  longer 
proceed  another  step  in  advance  without  it  ;  and  until 
it  is  adopted,  civilisation  must  retrograde,  and  the 
working  classes  starve   for  want  of  employment." 

Here  then  we  have  Owen's  economic  foresight 
vindicated,  and  the  material  well-being  of  the  new 
colonist  assured.  It  remains  to  consider  how  to  dispose 
of  the  wealth  which  will  be  so  abundantly  produced 
under  the  new  order  of  things. 

It  is  now,  Owen  holds,  sufficiently  demonstrated  that 
when  their  labours  are  wisely  directed  the  inhabitants 
of  the  new  colonies  will  without  undue  effort  be  able 
to  produce  much  more  than  enough  for  their  mainten- 
ance. Hence  there  will  be  little  need  for  money  or 
private  property  within  the  community.  "  It  will  be 
quite  evident  to  all,  that  wealth  of  that  kind  which  will 
alone  be  held  in  any  estimation  amongst  them,  may  be 
so  easily  created  to  exceed  all  their  wants,  that  every 
desire  for  individual  accumulation  will  be  extinoruished. 
.  .  .  As  the  easy,  regular,  healthy,  rational  employment 
of  the  individuals  forming  these  societies  will  create  a 
very  large  surplus  of  their  own  products,  beyond  what 
they  will  have  any  desire  to  consume,  each  may  be  freely 


^Mf 


r 


ti,k 


.V-  '~v«^-  iaiMHwlwa»tf^«— *> 


Fioti!  nit  engraving  after  a  picture  by  W.  T.  Fry  pitblislicci  in  1821. 
ROBERT   OWEN. 


REPORT  TO  THE  COUNTY  OF  LANARK    271 

permitted  to  receive  from  the  general  store  of  the  com- 
munity whatever  they  may  require.  This,  in  practice, 
will  prove  to  be  the  greatest  economy." 

Part  of  the  surplus  will  be  devoted  to  the  maintenance 
of  the  infants,  the  aged,  and  the  sick  ;  part  to  the  rich, 
who  having  advanced  the  necessary  capital  will  not  be 
expected  to  do  any  work  themselves  ;  part  will  be  needed 
by  those  whose  work  is  not  directly  of  a  productive 
character  ;  ^  and  part  again  will  be  required  for  paying 
taxes  and  public  dues  generally.^  What  still  remains 
after  these  various  claims  have  been  satisfied,  and  after 
due  provision  has  been  made  for  the  future — for  each 
establishment  will  be  provided  with  granaries  and  ware- 
houses, where  food  may  be  stored  against  a  season  of 
famine  ^ — will  be  exchanged  with  other  like  communities 
for  part  of  the  surplus  of  their  special  commodities  ;  and 
thus  each  colony  will  add  to  its  luxuries  by  a  kind  of 
primitive  foreign  commerce.  Precise  details  are  given 
of  the  amount  of  land  to  be  taken  ;  the  mode  of  its 
cultivation  ;  the  arrangement  of  the  buildings  in  a 
square  ;  the  provision  for  education  ;  the  internal 
government  of  the  colonies,  and  other  matters.  The 
only  new  point  discussed,  however,  is  that  of  the  clothing. 
Owen  favours  a  garb  which  should  be  as  light  and  simple 
as  possible,  on  the  grounds  of  health,  economy,  beauty 
and  sexual  delicacy.  He  cites  the  national  dress  of  the 
Romans  and  of  the  Scotch  Highlanders  as  most  nearly 
.realising  this  ideal  in  practice.  He  adds,  that  the  best 
fashion  and  material   having   once   been  settled,    nobody 

^  Autobiography,  Vol.  Ia,  p.  282. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  304  et  seq. 
3  Ibid.,  p.  303. 


-72  ROBERT   OWEN 

will  need  to  give  a  thought  to  questions  of  dress  "  for 
many  years  or  perhaps   centuries."  ^ 

But  the  most  interesting  part  of  the  Report  is  that 
dealing  with  the  question  of  a  standard  of  value.  At 
the  time  when  Owen  wrote  his  Report  the  currency 
was  the  question  of  the  hour.  In  1797  an  Act  of 
Parliament  had  been  passed  to  authorise  the  suspension 
by  the  Bank  of  England  of  cash  payments.  The  sus- 
pension was,  by  the  terms  of  the  Act,  to  last  until  six 
months  after  the  end  of  the  war.  The  war  had  come 
to  an  end  nearly  five  years  ago  ;  prices  had  long 
since  fallen  close  to  the  normal ;  but  the  Government  still 
hesitated  to  sanction  the  resumption  of  cash  payments. 
In  the  previous  year,  however  (1819),  they  had  appointed 
a  Committee  under  the  presidency  of  Robert  Peel  the 
younger — the  son  of  the  rich  manufacturer  who  had 
introduced  the  Factory  Bill  drafted  by  Owen — and  in 
accordance  with  the  recommendations  of  the  Committee 
cash  payments  were  to  be  resumed,  not  immediately, 
but  by  four  successive  stages.  In  May,  1820,  the  date 
of  Owen's  Report,  the  first  of  these  stages  had  already 
been  passed. 

Every  social  reformer  believes  that  he  understands 
the  part  played  by  the  currency,  and  those  ot  the  more 
thoroughgoing  type  are  in  substantial  agreement  in 
attributing  famine,  poverty  and  all  other  social  evils  to 
its  agency.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  especially  at  a  time 
when  currency  questions  occupied  so  much  of  men's 
thoughts,  that  Owen  should  find  the  secret  of  the 
national  distress  in  the  artificial  standard  of  value 
accepted     by     civilised     societies,     and      should     foresee 

'  Autobiography,  Vol.  I  a,  pp.  291,  292. 


REPORT  TO  THE  COUNTY  OF  LANARK    273 

imminent  aggravation  of  that  distress  if  the  proposals 
of  Peel's  Committee  were  carried  out.  His  line  of 
argument  may  roughly  be  paraphrased  as  follows  :  Even 
before  the  great  mechanical  inventions  of  the  last  genera- 
tion, the  labour  of  a  man,  properly  directed,  was  more 
than  sufficient  to  maintain  himself;  by  those  inventions 
his  powers  of  production  have  been  multiplied  fifty-  or 
a  hundred-fold — and  yet  the  people  are  starving.  Since, 
then,  the  cause  of  that  poverty  does  not  consist  in  any 
lack  of  wealth,  or  of  the  means  of  production,  there 
must  be  some  obstruction  to  the  proper  circulation  of 
the  wealth  produced.  In  short,  the  cause  must  be 
sought  in  the  mechanism  of  distribution.  Now  distribu- 
tion in  civilised  countries  is  no  longer  carried  on  by 
a  simple  process  of  barter.  An  intermediate  term  has 
been  introduced  into  the  process  ;  that  intermediate 
term  is  the  standard  of  value — in  other  words  money. 
It  is  the  imperfection  of  the  standard  which  is  the  real 
cause  of  the  stagnation  of  wealth,  and  the  consequent 
poverty  of  so  many  of  our  fellow-countrymen  in  the 
midst  of  riches.  For  gold  and  silver  are  a  purely 
arbitrary  standard  by  which  to  measure  commodities  ; 
they  are,  moreover,  absurdly  inadequate  as  a  medium 
of  exchange,  as  the  late  Government  found  when  they 
wisely  substituted  a  more  elastic  paper  currency  in  1797. 
But  even  bank  notes  constitute  but  a  palliative.  The 
true  remedy  for  the  evil  is  more  radical.  One  of  the 
.first  measures  required  "  to  let  prosperity  loose  on 
the  country  is  a  change  in  the  standard  of  value "  ; 
and  as  a  result  of  thirty  years'  study  and  experience 
Owen  propounds  the  doctrine  "  That  the  natural 
standard   of  value    is^    in  principle^  human  labour^  or  the 

VOL.     I.  18 


274  ROBERT    OWEN 

combined  manual   and   mental  powers    of  men    called  into 
act  ion  y 

Let,  then,  he  continues,  a  labour-unit  be  fixed,  on  the 
analogy  of  a  foot-pound  or  "  horse  power  "  in  mechanics  ; 
and  let  the  price  of  all  commodities  be  fixed  in  terms 
of  that  unit,  in  accordance  with  the  actual  amount  of 
human  labour  required  for  their  production.  The 
adoption  of  this  simple  and  natural  device  would  remove 
all  the  evils  from  which  civilised  society  now  suffers. 
Human  labour,  no  longer  subject  to  the  caprice  of  the 
market,  would  acquire  a  new  dignity  ;  prices  would  no 
Ioniser  fluctuate  ;  all  commercial  restrictions  would  be 
removed,  and  all  markets  thrown  open  ;  every  transaction 
would  proceed  smoothly  ;  the  whole  process  of  bargaining 
and  higgling,  with  all  its  demoralising  accompaniments, 
would  disappear  ;  and  wealth  would  find  its  level  as 
inevitably  as  water. 

The  Report  was  printed  for  a  general  meeting  of 
the  county  held  at  Lanark  on  May  i,  1820,  and  was 
referred  for  consideration  to  a  committee  consisting  of 
the  sheriff^  and  six  other  gentlemen.  In  the  following 
November  the  committee  presented  a  brief  report,  in 
which,  while  refraining  from  committing  themselves 
to  anv  definite  opinion  upon  Owen's  scheme  as  a  whole, 
they  expressed  the  view  that  it  would  be  desirable  that 
further  experiments  should  be  made  in  spade  culture. 
After  the  reading  of  the  committee's  report.  Sir  James 
Stewart  brought  before  the  meeting  a  proposal  made 
'ny  Mr.  Hamilton  of  Dalzell  to  let  to  the  county  from 
five  hundred  to  seven  hundred  acres  of  land,  ''  with  a 
view  to  facilitate  the  formation  of  an  establishment  on 
Mr.  Owen's  plan,  which  would  supersede  the    necessity 


REPORT  TO  THE  COUNTY  OF  LANARK     275 

of  erecting  a  Bridewell  for  the  County."  It  was  further 
proposed  that  the  county  should  erect  suitable  buildings 
on  the  land,  and  that  evildoers  should  be  sent  thither 
instead  of  to  the  Bridewell,  and  there  transformed  into 
respectable  citizens.  No  action  appears  to  have  been 
taken  on  the  proposal,  or  on  Owen's  Report.^ 

The  year  1821  saw  the  publication  of  the  Economist^ 
a  periodical  designed  to  advocate  Owen's  views,  and  the 
actual  starting,  on  a  small  scale,  of  a  Co-operative  and 
Economical  Society,  of  which  a  fuller  account  will  be 
given  in  a  later  chapter.  In  June  of  the  same  year 
Owen's  plans  were  again  brought  before  the  House  of 
Commons.  Maxwell  moved  in  a  feeble  and  unimpressive 
speech  for  the  appointment  of  a  Commission  to  report 
upon  the  establishment  at  New  Lanark.  The  debate 
was  notable  for  a  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  speakers. 
Opposition  on  religious  grounds  to  any  countenance 
of  Owen's  schemes  was  again  a  prominent  feature  of 
the  debate.  Wilberforce  spoke  once  more,  and  was 
supported  on  this  occasion  by  Lushington  and  Canning. 
But  the  opposition  which  counted  for  most  came  from 
another  quarter.  Lord  Londonderry  based  his  objections 
to  the  motion  mainly  on  the  paternal  character  of  Owen's 
proposed  government — '*  The  state  of  discipline  recom- 
mended by  Mr.  Owen  might  be  applicable  enough  to 
poor-houses,  but  it  was  by  no  means  agreeable  to  the 
feelings  of  a  free  nation."  And  Hume  followed  to  the 
same  effect  :  "  If  Mr.  Owen's  system  produced  so  much 
happiness  with   so  little   care,  the   adoption  of  it  would 

^  Atitobiography,  Vol.  Ia,  pp.  311-14.  From  a  letter  from  Hamilton 
dated  December  5,  1820,  it  appears  that  he  proposed  to  let  sixty  acres  at  a 
nominal  rent,  and  six  hundred  more  at  a  rent  of  two-fifths  of  the  produce. 
Further  he  promised  a  subscription  of  ^1,000. 


276  ROBERT   OWEN 

make  us  a  race  of  beings  little  removed  from  the  brutes, 
only  rann^ing  the  four  corners  of  a  parallelogram,  instead 
of  the  mazes  of  a  forest."  Other  speakers  ridiculed 
the '' quadrangular  paradises."  In  the  event  the  motion 
was  lost.^ 

Owen  himself  did  not  come  prominently  before  the 
public  again  until  June  of  the  following  year,  1822. 
On  the  first  of  that  month  there  was  held  a  meeting 
of  the  British  and  Foreign  Philanthropic  Society, 
established,  according  to  the  Times, ^  mainly  through 
Owen's  exertions.  The  names  of  nearly  all  foreign 
ministers  and  ambassadors  in  the  country,  together 
with  a  long  list  of  noblemen  and  other  distinguished 
persons,  appeared  as  vice-presidents.  William  Fry  and 
Isaac  Goldsmid  were  the  treasurers.  John  Gait  was 
one  of  the  hon.  secretaries,  and  the  acting  committee 
included  Sir  James  Graham,  T.  W.  Coke  (afterwards 
Earl  of  Leicester),  Brougham,  Hume,  and  many  other 
Members  of  Parliament,  bankers,  clergymen  and  philan- 
thropists. The  object  of  the  Society  was  declared  to 
be  "  to  carry  into  effect  measures  for  the  permanent 
relief  of  the  labouring  classes,  by  Communities  for  mutual 
interest  and  co-operation,  in  which  by  means  of  education, 
example  and  employment,  they  will  be  gradually  with- 
drawn from  the  evils  induced  by  ignorance,  bad  habits, 
poverty  and  want  of  employment."  '^ 

At  the  first  meeting,  which  took  place  in  the  Free- 
masons' Hall  in  London,  the  Earl  of  Blessington  read 
the  report  of  the  committee,  in  which   the  establishment 

'  Hansard,  June  26,  1821. 

'  Report  of  the  meeting,  June  4,  1822. 

'  Report  in  Robert  Owen's  Journal,  Vol.  I.,  p.  157. 


REPORT  TO  THE  COUNTY  OF  LANARK    277 

of  communities  on  Owen's  plan  was  recommended  to 
the  landed  proprietor  as  "  a  safe  and  profitable  mode 
of  investing  capital,"  and  "as  a  practicable  method  of 
extinguishing  the  Poor's  Rate  in  England."  The  secre- 
taries announced  a  list  of  subscriptions  amounting  to 
about  ^50,000,  including  ^10,000  from  Owen,  and 
^5,000  each  from  Hamilton  of  Dalzell,  James  Morrison 
and  Henry  Jones,  of  Cole  House,  Devon.  The  speakers, 
including  James  Maxwell,  M.P.,  Sir  W.  de  Crespigny, 
John  Gait,  the  Earl  of  Blessington  and  Viscount 
Torrington,  were  enthusiastic  in  their  testimony  to  the 
success  of  the  establishment  at  New  Lanark,  and  hopeful 
of  the  prospects  of  the  similar  experiment  which  the 
Society  projected. 

Owen,  in  returning  thanks,  found  occasion  to  say 
a  word  for  "  the  respectable  individuals  now  denominated 
political  economists."  Their  amiable  disposition  and 
good  intentions,  he  declared,  no  one  could  doubt,  but 
experience  showed  that  "  their  theories  and  their  doctrines 
could  produce  only  misery  to  the  human  race." 

Notwithstanding  the  enthusiastic  tone  of  the  meeting, 
and  the  substantial  sum  promised  in  the  subscription 
list,  we  hear  no  more  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Philanthropic  Society  or  of  its  projected  experiment  in 
community-forming.^ 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year,  1822,  Owen  went  over 
to  Ireland  to  spread  the  knowledge  of  his  system  there. 
He  spent  some  months  in  a  tour  through  the  country 
accompanied   by  an   agricultural  expert  and  by  Captain 

^  The  proceedings  of  this,  the  first  (and  only  ?)  meeting  are  reported 
in  the  Times,  June  4,  1822,  and  at  greater  length  in  Robert  Owen's 
Journal^  Vols.  I.  and  II. 


278  ROBERT    OWEN 

Macdonaki  of  the  Engineers,  an  enthusiastic  disciple 
who  afterwards  followed  him  to  New  Harmony. 
He  visited  Dublin  and  Bclfiist,  Kilkenny,  Waterford, 
Cork,  Kerry,  Eimerick,  Tipperary,  King  and  Queen's 
Counties,  Clare,  Meath  and  Down,  spending  some 
months  in  the  south  and  west,  as  those  districts  were 
at  the  time  most  disturbed,  and  suffering  the  deepest 
distress.^  He  was  welcomed  by  many  of  the  nobility 
and  gentry,  and  by  the  clergy,  both  Protestant  and 
Catholic.  He  was  even  invited  to  Maynooth  and  ex- 
pounded his  system  before  an  audience  of  Roman 
Catholic  divines.'"^  He  called  upon  the  Lord-Lieutenant 
and  expatiated  upon  his  plans  for  an  hour  and  a  quarter. 
*'  I  had  a  very  fiivourable  hearing  :  he  has  the  plan  now 
under  consideration,  and  I  am  to  see  him  again."  ^ 

In  a  letter  dated  March  i,  1823,  addressed  to  the 
nobility,  gentry,  clergy  and  inhabitants  of  Ireland,  Owen 
gave  the  result  of  his  observations  during  this  tour, 
lie  found  a  soil  fertile  beyond  his  expectations,  a  suitable 
climate,  rivers,  harbours  and  natural  resources  sufficient, 
if  properly  used,  to  maintain  in  abundance  a  population 
manyfold  greater  than  the  seven  millions  then  inhabiting 
the  island.  And  yet  he  found  these  same  millions,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest,  living  in  squalor  and  dis- 
comfort ;  the  landlords  in  constant  anxietv  lest  the 
tenants  should  refuse  to  pay  rent,  and  their  own  means 
of  livelihood  should   thus  disappear  ;   the   middle  classes 

'  Report  of  Select  Cnmviittcc  on  the  Poor  in  Ireland  {i^z-^),  p.  70. 

'  New  Existence  of  Man  upon  Earth,  Part  IV.,  pp.  12,  16. 

'  Lettr-r  to  Mrs.  Owen,  October  31,  1S22.  In  the  same  letter  he 
mentioned  dining  on  successive  nights  w  itli  the  Bishop  of  Down  and  the 
Lord  Mayor,  and  chronicles  visits  to  Lord  Cloncurry,  Lord  Carrick, 
the  Duke  of  Lcinster  and  the  Bishop  of  Ossory. 


REPORT  TO  THE  COUNTY  OF  LANARK     279 

engaged  in  incessant  struggle  against  poverty  ;  the 
peasantry  so  poor  that  women  were  eager  to  be  employed 
for  two  pence  a  day,  and  strong  active  men  were  glad 
of  the  chance  of  working  fourteen  hours  for  eightpence. 
The  responsibility  for  all  this  poverty  and  suffering  he 
traced  to  the  misguided  system  under  which  the  Irish 
people  were  living  ;  the  remedy  he  promised  to  declare 
at  a  public  meeting  to  be  held  on  the  i8th  of  the  month 
in  Dublin.  On  the  appointed  day  the  Rotunda  was 
filled  with  an  expectant  crowd.  The  Lord  Mayor  was 
in  the  chair,  and  amongst  those  who  had  come  to  hear 
and  to  give  their  support  to  Owen  were  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  of  Leinster,  The  Earl  of  Meath,  Lord  Cloncurry, 
and  a  number  of  clergy. 

In  a  speech  which  took  three  hours  to  deliver,^  Owen 
sketched  before  the  vast  audience  the  outlines  of  the 
New  System  of  Society.  "  I  will  now  disclose  to  you," 
said  he,  "  a  secret,  which  till  now  has  been  hidden  from 
mankind " — the  secret  that  man's  character  is  formed 
for  him  by  circumstances,  pre-natal  and  post-natal.  The 
first  part  of  the  address  is  practically  a  re-statement  of 
the  argument  in  the  Essays  on  the  Formation  of  Character. 
In  conclusion  Owen  briefly  described  his  project  of 
co-operative  communities. 

Owen's  address  is  said  to  have  been  received  with 
frequent  applause.  But  the  tone  of  the  speakers  in 
the  discussion  which  followed  was  by  no  means  friendly. 
-The  Protestant  party  was  prominent.  Three  clergy- 
men, Messrs.  Dunne,  Daly  and  Singer,  opposed  Owen's 
project  on  the  ground  that  his  system  was  contrary  to 

*  The  report  of  the  speech  in  the  Patriot  (March  20,  1823)  occupies 
eight  and  a  half  columns — nearly  two  entire  pages — of  close  print. 


28o  ROBERT   OWEN 

revealed  religion,  immoral  in  its  tendency,  and  generally 
subversive  of  the  established  order.  It  seems  doubtful, 
however,  whether  these  champions  of  the  faith  carried 
with  them  the  sympathies  of  the  audience.  At  any 
rate  a  further  meeting;,  which  was  held  in  the  same 
place  on  April  12,  was  well  attended  ;  the  company, 
which  again  included  peers  and  peeresses,  and  many 
persons  eminent  in  literature  and  the  sciences,  being 
apparently  not  less  distinguished  than  on  the  tormer 
occasion.  At  the  second  meeting  a  large  painting 
illustrating  one  of  the  proposed  communities  was  sus- 
pended above  the  orchestra ;  and  the  greater  part  of 
Owen's  address  was  devoted  to  explaining  the  details 
of  the  arrangements  in  the  proposed  villages — the 
housing  accommodation,  the  arrangements  for  warming 
and  lighting,  the  clothing,  the  education  of  the  children, 
and  the  organisation  of  the  communal  industry. 

Though  Owen's  speech  on  this  occasion,  to  judge 
from  the  length  of  the  reports,  must  have  occupied 
some  two  hours  in  delivery,  he  had  still  not  completed 
his  exposition,  and  a  third  meeting,  not  less  crowded 
than  those  which  preceded  it,  was  held  on  April  19.^ 
In  this  third  speech  Owen  entered  into  the  financial 
aspect  of  the  question.  He  produced  a  series  of 
calculations  designed  to  show  that  a  community  of  one 
thousand  persons,  men,  women,  and  children,  occupied 
partly  in  agriculture  and  partly  in  nianufactures  could, 
if  their  labour  were  properly  directed  and  co-ordinated, 
produce  enough  not  only  to  maintain  themselves  in 
abundance,    and    to    provide   for   the   education    of  their 

'  The  pressure    and  heat  at  the    meeting  were  so  great  that  several 
ladies  faiiitcd  (report  ia  Dublin  Evcnini^  Mail,  April   23,    1823). 


REPORT  TO  THE  COUNTY  OF  LANARK     281 

children,  the  maintenance  of  the  sick  and  the  aged,  but 
also  leave  a  large  annual  surplus,  sufficient  to  extinguish 
in  a  few  years  any  debt  which  might  have  been  accumu- 
lated in  the  original  purchase  of  the  land  and  erection 
of  the  buildings.  On  Owen's  calculations  this  surplus 
might  be  reckoned  as  ranging  from  ^^2,500  to  ^^  16,000 
a  year,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  industries  pursued 
by  the  happy  villagers.  A  stormy  discussion  followed 
Owen's  speech,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Singer  again  being  prominent 
amongst  the  opposition. 

The  meeting  was  again  adjourned  until  April  24. 
At  this  fourth  meeting,  which  appears  to  have  been 
of  a  semi-private  nature,  Owen's  friends  were  in  the 
majority.  Sir  T.  Esmond,  Lord  Cloncurry,  ^Eneas 
Macdonnell  and  General  Browne  spoke  in  favour  of 
the  scheme.^  Finally,  on  May  3,  was  held  the  first 
meeting  of  the  Hibernian  Philanthropic  Society.  Owen 
was  supported  by  Lord  Cloncurry,  Sir  Frederick  Flood, 
Sir  William  Brabazon,Sir  Capel  Molyneux, General  Browne, 
the  Hon.  Mr.  Dawson,  and  other  persons  of  social 
position.  A  clergyman,  the  Rev.  E.  Groves,  was  one 
of  the  secretaries.  A  substantial  list  of  subscriptions 
was  announced,  and  the  table  at  which  the  secretary  sat 
was  ''  literally  covered  with  bank-notes."  After  some 
prefatory  remarks  by  Lord  Cloncurry,  Owen  made 
another  lengthy  speech,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
displayed  his  series  of  cubes,  and  explained  in  detail 
how  they  illustrated   the   divisions   of  existing  society. 

Of   the    Hibernian    Philanthropic    Society   we    hear 

^  For  a  report  of  the  meeting  see  the  Patriot,  April  26,  1823.  No 
mention  of  the  meeting  appears  in  Robert  Owen's  Journal,  or  in  the 
Dublin  Report. 


282 


ROBERT   OWEN 


no  more  after  this  year.  But,  as  will  be  seen  here- 
after, the  seed  sown  in  the  Dublin  campaign  bore 
fruit    later. ^ 

In  the  course  of  this  same  year,  i82j,  a  Select 
Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  of  which  Ricardo 
was  a  member,  was  appointed  to  consider  the  employment 
of  the  poor  in  Ireland.  A  memorial  was  presented  to 
the  Committee  from  the  Hibernian  Philanthropic  Society 
prayinir  that  Owen's  plan  of  villages  of  co-operation 
mifiht  be  eiven  a  trial.  Owen  was  himself  called  as  a 
witness  before  the  Committee,  and  was  examined  at 
considerable  length  upon  the  economic  and  the  ethical 
aspects  of  his  scheme.  The  Committee  report  that  the 
scheme  had  attracted  so  much  attention  and  interest, 
especially  in  Ireland,  that  they  telt  it  their  duty  to 
examine  it  in  detail  and  consider  the  tendency  of  the 
principles  on  which  it  is  founded.  Their  conclusion  is 
as  follows  : 

"  But  when  it  is  considered,  that  Mr.  Owen's  plan 
is  founded  upon  a  principle  that  a  state  of  perfect 
equality  can  be  produced  and  can  lead  to  beneficial 
consequences,  your  Committee  consider  this  position  so 
irreconcilable  with  the  nature  and  interests  of  mankind, 
and  the  experience  of  all  ages,  that  it  is  impossible  to 
treat  this  scheme  as  being  practicable.  Your  Committee 
concur  in  the  opinion  that  a  state  in  which  an  inequality 
of  conditions  offers  the  natural  rewards  of  good  conduct, 

•  Accounts  of  tlie  Dublin  meetings  will  be  found  in  the  Dublin 
Report,  a  pamphlet  published  in  Dublin  in  1823,  subsequently  reprinted 
in  the  first  three  volumes  of  Robert  UwoCs  Journal,  also  in  the  New 
J'.xistence  of  Man  upon  Earth,  Part  IV.  Fairly  full  reports  are  to 
be  found  in  the  C()ntemj)orary  Dublin  newspapers,  the  Evcnins;  Mail 
and  the  Patriot. 


REPORT  TO  THE  COUNTY  OF  LANARK     283 

and  inspires  widely  and  generally  the  hopes  of  rising 
and  the  fear  of  falling  in  society,  is  unquestionably  the 
best  calculated  to  develop  the  energies  and  faculties  of 
man,  and  is  best  suited  to  the  exercise  and  improvement 
of  human  virtue.  If  Mr.  Owen's  establishments  could 
be  conducted  according  to  his  intentions,  the  idle  and 
profligate  would  be  placed  in  a  situation  equal  to  that 
which  would  be  a  reward  to  the  industrious  and  virtuous. 
True  it  is,  that  Mr.  Owen  suggests  that  under  his 
new  arrangements  idleness  and  profligacy  might  be 
altogether  extirpated  from  society,  but  such  an  opinion 
is  one  which  appears  altogether  visionary.  Certainly 
your  Committee  feel  every  disposition  highly  to 
estimate  the  efl^ects  of  good  education  and  early  moral 
habits,  but  to  conceive  that  any  '  arrangement  of 
circumstances '  can  altogether  divest  a  man  of  his 
passions  and  frailties,  as  they  comprehend  principles  in 
themselves  undeniable,  is  a  result  which  can  never  be 
anticipated." 

The  Dublin  meetings  mark  the  conclusion  of  another 
stage  in  Owen's  career.  They  were  the  last  occasions 
on  which  he  had  the  opportunity  in  this  country  of 
addressing  an  audience  composed  mainly  of  the  well-to- 
do  and  educated  classes.  His  appeals  to  them  were, 
as  we  have  seen,  by  no  means  unproductive,  measured 
by  the  standard  of  the  subscription-lists.  But  the 
enthusiasm  evoked  seems  to  have  been  shortlived, 
and  none  of  these  subscription  lists  ever  matured.  In 
later  years  Owen  addressed  his  message  to  a  wider 
audience.  Flectere  si  nequeo  Superos^  Acheronta  movebo. 
On  his  return,  six  years  later,  from  America  and  the 
failure  of  his  great    experiment    at    New    Harmony,   he 


284  ROBERT   OWEN 

seems  to  have  found  a  more  congenial  environment 
amongst  the  working  classes.  For  the  rest  of  his  life 
his  appeal  was  addressed  mainly  to  them  ;  and  if  the 
response  which  it  evoked  was  not  always  of  the  precise 
kind  at  which  he  aimed,  the  effects  produced  were  at 
any   rate   more  enduring. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

NEW  HARMONY 

FOR  some  years,  as  we  have  seen,  Owen  had  been 
endeavouring,  aided  by  committees  formed  of  his 
wealthy  and  aristocratic  followers,  to  raise  the  funds 
necessary  to  start  an  experimental  Community.  But  so 
far  none  of  these  efforts  had  proved  successful.  But  in 
the  summer  of  1824  an  opening  presented  itself  in  an 
unexpected  quarter,  of  which  Owen  was  not  slow  to 
take  advantage. 

George  Rapp  was  a  small  farmer  born  at  Iptingen 
in  Wiirtemberg  in  1757.  In  early  manhood  he  reacted 
strongly  against  the  lifeless  formalism  of  religion  as 
manifested  in  the  Churches  of  his  native  land,  and 
gradually  gathered  round  him  a  band  of  disciples  who 
learned  to  look  to  him  for  spiritual  instruction.  Persecu- 
tion followed  ;  and  at  length,  in  1803,  Rapp  determined 
to  lead  his  followers  to  the  land  of  religious  freedom. 
He  sailed  for  America  in  that  year  with  two  or  three 
companions,  and  purchased  five  thousand  acres  of  un- 
cultivated land  near  Pittsburg.  In  the  next  year  six 
hundred  of  his  followers  joined  him,  and  the  Harmony 
Society  was  formed.  The  little  community  was  composed 
of  pious  German  peasants,  sober,  thrifty,  and  industrious. 
They  flourished  exceedingly  and  in  a  few  years  possessed 
mills  and  workshops,  a  tannery,  a  vineyard,  a  distillery 

28.S 


286  ROBERT   OWEN 

and  grew  all  that  was  needed  to  supply  themselves  with 
food  and  clothing.  In  1807  a  new  wave  of  religious 
feeling  swept  through  the  Society  and  the  members 
gcnerallv  renounced  marriage,  agreeing  to  live  a  celibate 
lifc.^  At  the  same  time  they  forswore  the  use  of  tobacco. 
In  1 8 14,  being  apparently  dissatisfied  with  the  site 
of  their  original  settlement,  the  Society  purchased 
some  thirty  thousand  acres  of  Government  land  in 
Posey  County,  Indiana,  on  the  banks  of  the  Wabash, 
a  tributary  of  the  Ohio.  In  18 15  they  sold  their 
Pennsylvanian  property,  and  the  whole  Society,  numbering 
it  is  said  about  eight  or  nine  hundred  persons,"  moved 
to  their  new  home.  The  new  settlement,  which  was 
named  Harmonic  or  Harmony,  consisted  of  a  large 
quantity  of  very  fertile  flat  land  on  the  banks  of  the 
river,  backed  by  low-wooded  hills  suitable  for  the  vine. 
The  soil  soon  brought  forth  abundantly.  They  cultivated 
cornland  and  pasture,  magnificent  orchards  and  far- 
stretching  vineyards.  The  streets  of  the  little  city  were 
planted  with  black  locust-trees  and  mulberries — the  latter 
to  afford  material  for  the  silk-weaving  which  was  an 
important  feature  in  the  communal  industry.  The 
dwelling  houses  for  the  settlers  were  built  some  of  brick, 
some  of  wood  ;  each  with  its  suflicient  garden  enclosure 
filled  with  fruit-trees.  There  were  also  four  large 
buildings   to    serve   as    community-houses ;  a    substantial 

'  It  does  not  appear  that  there  was  any  comi)iilsion  in  the  matter. 
NordhofT  {The  Covimttnistic  Societies  of  the  United  States,  p.  73)  says 
that  those  who  refused  to  accept  cehbacy  witlidrcw  from  the  Society. 
Hut  Hebcrt,  who  visited  the  Society  at  its  new  habitation  at  Harmony 
in  1822,  says  that  marriages  were  permitted  even  at  that  date,  and  that 
the  last  had  occurred  nearly  three  years  before  his  visit  {A  Visit  to 
tht  Colony  of  Hannony  in  Indiana.     London,  1825). 

'  Their  numbers  are  said  to  have  been  recruited  by  emigration. 


VI!£ 

I'ilVV  Y 

jKt:     I 

:   LIB: 

:ary  • 

A-vroK 

, LLNOX 

AIsD 

l:l.Ut.N 

i-OUNDATlONS 

H 

'^     1 

NEW   HARMONY  287 

brick  house  for  Father  Rapp  ;  a  massive  stone  granary 
with  loopholed  walls,  to  serve  at  need  as  a  defence 
against  attack  by  Indians  and  others  ;  a  wooden  church, 
and  a  huge  cruciform  building  of  brick,  with  four  doors, 
one  at  the  extremity  of  each  end  of  the  cross.  The 
upper  storey  of  this  building  was  supported  inside  by 
massive  pillars  of  wahiut,  cherry  and  sassafras.^ 

There  were  also  a  silk-factory,  woollen-mill,  saw- 
mill, brickyard,  distillery,  oil-mill  and  dye-works. 
Harmony  soon  became  an  important  business  and 
manufacturing  centre  for  all  the  country  round.  Hebert, 
visiting  it  in  1822,  found  the  people  very  prosperous 
and  apparently  very  contented  :  but  he  notes  that  there 
was  an  absence  of  mirth  or  conviviality.  Besides  the 
church,  the  only  undertaking  not  of  a  purely  utilitarian 
character  appears  to  have  been  a  maze  or  labyrinth,  such 
as  that  at  Hampton  Court,  the  walks  walled  in  with 
hedges  of  beech,  with  a  small  summer-house  at  the  centre, 
rude  outside,  but  exquisitely  furnished  within.  And  even 
this  we  are  told  served  a  symbolic  purpose,  having  been 
designed  by  Rapp  to  illustrate  the  wanderings  of  the 
soul  through  the  world,  and  the  finding  of  the  desired 
haven  at  last  in  community-life. 

In  1824  the  colonists  determined  again  to  move  their 
home.  The  ostensible  cause  of  the  change  was  the 
unhealthiness  of  the  site  ;   but  it  was  thought  by  some 

^  Hebert  {op.  cit.)  describes  this  cruciform  building  as  a  church.  But 
it  is  certain  that  the  wooden  building,  which  was  furnished  with  a  spire 
and  two  heavy  bells,  was  intended  for  a  church.  The  New  Hartnouy 
Gazette  (Vol.  L,  p.  22)  calls  the  cruciform  building  the  Town  Hall :  and 
it  was  in  fact  used  in  Owen's  time  for  public  meetings,  concerts,  etc. 
Robert  Dale  Owen  {op,  cit.,  p.  212)  writes  of  "a  spacious  cruciform 
brick  hall." 


2  88  ROBERT    OWEN 

to  be  {xirt  of  Rapp's  policy  to  keep  his  people  on  the 
move,  lest,  becoming  too  comfortable  and  prosperous, 
they  should  forget  their  faith  and  their  vow  of  celibacy. 
At  anv  rate,  the  Society  commissioned  Richard  Flower, 
an  Englishman  who  had  helped  to  found  a  colony  in 
the  neighbouring  State  of  Illinois,  to  sell  their  property 
for  them. 

In  the  summer  of  1824  Flower  came  to  Braxfield. 
Owen,  as  we  have  seen,  was  already  acquainted  with 
the  Rappite  experiment  ;  indeed  the  knowledge  of  it  had 
probably  helped  to  shape  his  own  ideal  of  a  co-operative 
colony.  It  is  no  matter  for  wonder,  then,  that  the  offer 
made  by  Flower  proved  tempting.  Here  was  a  magnificent 
theatre  already  equipped  for  his  great  experiment,  and  in 
a  country  not  yet  in  complete  bondage  to  the  prejudices 
and  conventions  of  older  societies.  His  children,  for 
their  part,  were  fascinated  by  the  prospect.  "  I  listened 
with  delight,"  says  Robert  Dale  Owen,  "  to  Mr.  Flower's 
account  of  a  frontier  life,  and  when  one  morning  my 
father  asked  me  '  Well,  Robert,  what  say  you.  New 
Lanark  or  Harmony  ?  '  I  answered  without  hesitation 
*  Harmony.'  " 

Owen  accordingly  went  in  December,  i  824,  to  America 

to   view  the    property,  taking  with  him   his  son  William 

and  leaving   Robert  Dale  Owen   to  look  after    the  New 

Lanark    Mills    in    his    absence.      And    in    April    of    the 

following   year    he    bought    the  village  as  it  stood,  with 

all    its    industries    and    twenty    thousand    acres   of   land, 

for  ^30,000,'   a   price  which   seems  not  exorbitant.      The 

'  K.  I)alc  Owon,  of),  cit,  p.  21 1,  Nordlioff,  p.  76.  In  the  Xcw  Harmony 
(iazctU,  Vol.  II„  p.  353  (report  of  Robert  Owen's  speech  at  Fliiladelpliia),  the 
amount  paid  l)y  Owen  for  the  real  and  personal  property  together  is  given 
as  about  i4o,cxx)  dollars—  say  ^28,000.     In  New  Harmony  Gazette,  Vol.  I., 


NEW    HARMONY  289 

original  colonists  forthwith  returned  to  Pennsylvania, 
and  estabHshed  themselves  not  far  from  the  site  of  their 
former  settlement.  The  new  colony  was  named  Economy, 
and  there  the  Rappites  flourished  for  many  years. ^ 

When  Owen  arrived  in  America  he  found  that  his 
fame  had  already  preceded  him.  There  had  indeed  been 
founded  some  years  previously,  in  New  York,  a  "  Society 
for  promoting  Communities,"  which  in  1 822  had  published 
an  "  Essay  on  Common  Wealths^^  containing  extracts 
from  the  New  View  of  Society  together  with  Melish's 
account  of  the  Harmony  Society.  The  New  World  was 
prepared  therefore  to  welcome  both  the  man  and  his 
doctrines.  On  February  25  and  March  7,  1825,  he 
delivered  discourses  In  the  Hall  of  Representatives  at 
Washington  before  distinguished  audiences,  which  In- 
cluded the  President   of  the  United  States  and   several 

p.  14,  the  land  is  said  to  have  amounted  to  nearly  30,000  acres,  of  which 
less  than  3,000  were  cultivated  by  the  Society,  From  a  copy  of  the  deed 
of  agreement,  dated  May  21,  1825,  which  is  preserved  in  the  Manchester 
Correspondence,  it  appears  that  Rapp  conveyed  to  Owen,  "20,097  acres, 
together  with  all  the  tenements,  buildings,  implements  and  appurtenances, 
including  by  express  agreement  the  Town  Clock  and  bells,  all  the  furniture 
of  every  description  in  the  tavern,"  the  copper  brewing-kettles,  dyehig- 
kettles  and  blacksmith's  tools,  for  95,000  dollars  (  =  ;^i 9,451).  The  40,000 
odd  dollars  was  no  doubt  the  price  of  the  live-stock  and  other  personal 
property. 

^  The  reader  may  be  interested  to  learn  the  ending  of  the  Rappite 
Community — for  it  came  to  an  end  just  a  hundred  years  from  its  beginning. 
After  Rapp's  death  in  1847  the  Society  continued  to  prosper  exceedingly, 
and  became  extremely  wealthy.  The  numbers,  however,  seem  to  have 
steadily  diminished.  About  1890  several  new  members  were  elected, 
amongst  them  one  John  S.  Duss,  who  ultimately  became  trustee  and 
business  manager  for  the  Society.  In  1903  the  Society  was  reduced  to 
six  members,  amongst  whom  were  John  Duss  and  his  wife,  and  in  the 
spring  of  that  year  the  lands  of  the  township.  Economy,  were  sold,  it 
is  said  for  4,000,000  dollars,  to  a  land  company  ;  the  proceeds  of  the 
sale  being  divided  amongst  the  surviving  members  {^Philadelphia  Press^ 
April  17,  1903  ;  Philadelphia  Ledger,  May  2,  1903). 

VOL.    I.  19 


2  90  ROBERT   OWEN 

members  of  the  Cabinet,  Judges,  Members  of  Congress, 
and  other  persons  of  importance.  In  the  first  address  he 
confined  himself  to  an  outline  of  his  doctrine  of  the 
iiifiucncc  of  circumstances  on  belief  and  character.  In 
the  second  he  gave  details  of  the  projected  community, 
a!id  exhibited  drawings  and  a  wooden  model  of  the 
proposed  quadrangle.  After  describing  the  town  of 
Marmony  and  its  "  infant  manutactures,"  he  went  on  to 
point  out  that  the  existing  arrangement  of  the  houses, 
etc.,  would  not  permit  the  settlement  to  form  a  fitting 
habitation  for  the  ideal  Community.  "  Therefore  it  will 
serve  only  a  temporary  but  yet  a  useful  temporary 
purpose  for  the  objects  which  I  have  in  view.  It  will 
enable  me  to  torm  imnicdiately  a  preliminary  society,  in 
which  to  receive  a  new  population,  and  to  collect,  prepare 
and  arrange  the  materials  for  erecting  several  such  com- 
binations as  the  model  represents,^  and  for  forming 
several  independent  yet  united  associations,  having 
common  property  and  one  common  interest."  He  went 
on  to  vindicate  Harmony  from  the  charge  of  unhealthi- 
ness,  pointing  out  that  of  the  eight  hundred  persons  in 
the  Society,  only  seven  had  died  in  the  two  preceding 
years.       Anticipating     possible     objections     on      political 

*  From  an  article  in  the  Co-operative  Magazine  for  January,  1826,  de- 
scribing the  progress  made  at  New  Harmony,  we  learn  that  "  a  favourable 
site  has  been  marked  out  on  which  the  new  buildings  are  to  be  erected," 
and  a  reference  is  made  to  the  frontispiece  of  the  magazine,  repro- 
duced on  the  opposite  page,  which  represents  a  quadrangular  building 
placed  in  a  fertile  valley-bottom  on  the  banks  of  a  winding  river, 
apparently  intt-nded  for  the  Wabash.  The  article  continues,  "  It  is 
rontidcnlly  expected  that  by  the  latter  end  of  this  year,  the  members 
of  the  community  will  exchange  their  present  residence  for  one  in 
which  the  most  skilful  combination  of  scientific  arrangements  will  be 
made  subservient  to  the  various  purposes  of  social  and  domestic  life." 
But  the  intention,  it   ever  formed,  must  soon   have  been  dropped. 


NEW   HARMONY  291 

grounds,  he  pointed  out  that  it  would  be  as  easy  for 
communities  of  the  kind  to  confederate  themselves  into 
a  State,  as  it  was  for  the  several  States  of  the  American 
Union  to  confederate  themselves  into  a  nation,  and  that 
defence  against  aggression  could  be  secured  by  training 
the  schoolboys  in  the  communal  schools  in  military  and 
naval  exercises. 

Here,  then,  "  in  the  heart  of  the  United  States," 
Owen  proclaimed,  "  the  Power  which  governs  and  directs 
the  Universe  and  every  action  of  man  .  .  .  permits  me  to 
announce  a  new  empire  of  peace  and  goodwill  to  men." 
He  concluded  his  address,  it  is  stated,  by  inviting  the 
"  industrious  and  well-disposed  of  all  nations  "  to  come 
to  New  Harmony.^  At  any  rate,  some  kind  of  manifesto 
was  issued,  inviting  those  who  were  in  sympathy  with 
the  scheme  to  join  the  new  Community.^ 

There  came,  in  fact,  in  the  early  months  of  1825  to 
Harmony — or  New  Harmony,  as  it  was  henceforth  to 
be  known — some  hundreds  of  persons  from  all  parts  of 
the  Union,  who  if  they  could  not  all  be  described  as 
industrious,  and  did  not  all  share  Owen's  hopes  of  a  new 
state  of  society,  were  all,  no  doubt,  well  disposed  to  a 
communal  life  as  they  severally  conceived  it,  and  found 
at  least  common  ground  in  their  dissatisfaction  with  the 
existing  order.  Owen  never  had  the  opportunity  of 
selecting  his  recruits,  as  appears  to  have  been  his  original 
intention,  for  he  found  the  settlement  filled  to  over- 
flowing on  his  arrival.  Eight  hundred,  it  is  said,  came 
within   the  first  few   weeks,  and  by  October,    1825,  the 

1  Noyes,  History  of  American  Socialis7ns^  p.  35.  The  words  do  not 
appear  in  the  address  as  published  in  the  New  Har??i07ty  Gazette 
(Vol.  II). 

^  Lockwood,  The  New  Harmony  Communities,  p.  89. 


292 


ROBERT    OWEN 


number  had  increased  to  nine  hundred.^  William  Owen, 
writing  to  his  father  from  New  Harmony  on  October 
24,  1825,  savs,  "  We  have  been  much  puzzled  to  know 
what  to  do  with  those  who  profess  to  do  anything  and 
everything  :  they  are  perfect  drones,  and  can  never  be 
satisfied  here.  We  have  got  rid  of  a  good  many  such, 
although  we  still  have  a  few  left."  And  Robert  Dale 
Owen,  who  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  Community 
earlv  in  the  following  year,  describes  them  as  a  *'  hetero- 
geneous collection  of  radicals,  enthusiastic  devotees  to 
principle,  honest  latitudinarians  and  lazy  theorists,  with 
a  sprinkling  of  unprincipled   sharpers  thrown   in.*' - 

On  April  25,  1825,  Robert  Owen  delivered  an 
address  to  the  hundreds  assembled  at  New  Harmony. 
He  pointed  out  that  a  change  from  the  individualistic 
to  the  social  system  could  not  be  made  all  at  once. 
Time  was  needed  for  the  denizens  of  the  future  Com- 
munity to  become  acquainted  with  each  other  :  time 
was  also  needed  to  enable  the  inhabitants  to  change  the 
selfish  habits  bred  by  individualism  tor  the  superior 
habits  necessary  in  a  social  state.  There  must  therefore 
be  a  half-way  house,  and,  he  continued,  "  New  Harmony, 
the  future  name  of  this  place,  is  the  best  half-way  house 
1  could  procure  for  those  who  are  going  to  travel  this 
extraordinary  journey  with  me  ;  and  although  it  is  not 
intended  to  be  our  permanent  residence,  I  hope  it  will 
be  found  not  a  bad  traveller's  tavern,  in  which  we  shall 
remain  only  until  we  can  change  our  old  garments,  and 
fully  prepare  ourselves  for  the  new  state  of  existence, 
into  which  we  hope  to  enter." 

*   Auycs,  lor.  rit.  ;     New  Harmony  Gazette,  Vol.  II.,  p.  30. 
'  Threading  my  Way,  p.  254. 


NEW   HARMONY  293 

He  then  pointed  out  that  it  might  be  found  necessary 
that  there  should  at  first  be  some  pecuniary  inequality, 
since  it  was  essential  for  the  proper  starting  of  the  scheme 
to  import  a  few  men  of  science  from  the  outside,  who 
would  not  be  satisfied  with  the  plain  fare  and  simple 
accommodation  which  would  be  the  lot  of  the  ordinary 
workers.  For  himself,  however,  he  wished  no  better 
accommodation  than  the  rest,  and  in  any  case  there  would 
be  no  personal  inequality — no  distinction  of  rank. 

Owen  then  proceeded  to  read  the  proposed  Constitu- 
tion of  the  Preliminary  Society.  At  the  outset  he,  as 
founder  and  sole  proprietor,  proposed  to  appoint  the 
committee  of  management,  with  the  proviso  that  at 
the  end  of  the  first  year  the  members  should  elect 
representatives  on  the  committee.^  The  Society  was 
to  be  open  to  all  the  world,  except  "  persons  of  colour." 
The  members  accepted  no  pecuniary  liability.  They 
were  to  bring  with  them  their  own  furniture  and  effects  ; 
they  were  to  work,  under  the  direction  of  the  committee, 
at  some  trade  or  occupation  ;  a  credit  was  to  be  set 
against  each  name  at  the  public  store  for  the  amount 
of  useful  work  done  ;  and  against  this  credit  a  debit 
was  entered  for  goods  supplied.  At  the  end  of  the 
year  the  balance  would  be  placed  to  the  credit  of  the 
member  ;  but  he  was  not  at  liberty  to  withdraw  any 
part  of  it  in  cash,  without  the  consent  of  the  committee. 
He  could,  however,  leave  the  Society  at  a  week's  notice, 
-and  withdraw  his  balance. 

Owen    had    intended    to    prohibit    the  distillation  ot 

^  In  fact  the  members  appear  to  have  elected  three  out  of  the  com- 
mittee of  seven  persons,  from  the  outset  (see  New  Harmony  Gazette, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  102). 


294  ROBERT   OWEN 

whiskey,  but  found  that  this  step  was  impossible  at  the 
present  time.  He  hoped,  however,  that  it  might  be 
effected  in  the  future/  He  recommended  that  the 
articles  consumed  by  the  members  should,  as  far  as 
possible,  lie  of  American  origin,  and  especially  those 
that  the  Society  itself  could  produce,  so  that  it  might 
ultimately  be  self-sufficing.  Finally  he  hoped  that  at 
the  end  of  three  years  the  members  would  be  prepared  to 
constitute  a  Community  of  Equality,  "and  so  for  ever 
bury  all  the  evils  of  the  old  selfish  individual  system." 

At  the  beginning  of  June  Owen  left  New  Harmony, 
and  returned  to  Europe  early  in  August.  On  October  i, 
1825,  appeared  the  New  Harmony  dizette^  with  the 
motto,  ''  If  we  cannot  reconcile  all  opinions,  let  us 
endeavour  to  unite  all  hearts."  In  its  early  numbers 
we  have  an  interesting  picture  of  the  state  of  the  Society 
at  that  date.  Nothing  is  said  of  the  agricultural  pro- 
spects. As  regards  the  manufactures  we  learn  that, 
though  the  Community  possessed  well-equipped  mills 
and  workshops  of  various  kinds,  they  could  not  use 
them  to  the  full  for  want  of  skilled  workmen.  The 
sawmill  was  doing  good  business  with  all  the  country 
round  ;  the  hat  manufactory  and  the  boot-making  shop 
were  doing  well  ;  the  manufacture  of  soap,  candles 
and  glue  had  exceeded  the  rec}uirements  of  the  Com- 
munity. Hut  the  dye-works  and  the  pottery  were 
standing  idle  for  want  of  hands,  and  for  the  same  cause 
the  cotton  and  woollen  mills  could  turn  out  but  a 
small   weekly   product. 

'  William  Owen  writes  in  August,  1825,  stating  that  a  resolution  had 
been  passed  to  the  ctTcct  that  no  spirituous  liquors  should  be  retailed 
in  New  Harmony.    (Ouoted  in  the  Co-operative  Magazine,  January,  1826.) 


NEW    HARMONY  295 

A  letter  from  William  Owen,  who  had  been  left  in 
charge  of  the  colony  during  his  father's  absence,  dated 
New  Harmony,  December  16,  1825,  gives  a  detailed 
account  of  their  position  and  of  the  difficulties  of 
founding  a  colony  in  the  undeveloped  West. 

*'My   dearest  Father, 

"  We  were  astonished  to  hear  that  you  had 
advertised  for  so  many  hands,  whom  you  wished  to 
engage  as  members  or  hired  workmen,  for  it  will  be 
impossible  to  give  them  houses  or  even  rooms  here, 
until  we  shall  have  built  more  houses  for  their  accommoda- 
tion. Of  many  of  those  for  whom  you  advertised  we 
have  already  sufficient  numbers  and  excellent  workmen." 


He  explains,  however,  that  they  need,  amongst 
others,  "  masons,  bricklayers,  wheelwrights,  carpenters, 
machine  makers,  potters  (confidential  men  likely  to 
remain  here),  and  above  all  good  cooks  and  washer- 
women, and  laundresses.  The  tavern  in  particular 
requires  a  good  cook  and  also  all  the  boarding  houses. 
If  you  can,  I  would  advise  to  hire  at  Louisville  a 
black  man  cook,  we  want  him  here  sadly,  particularly 
as  you  expect  to  bring  so  many  people  here.  But 
although  I  have  said  we  want  these  men  to  make  our 
workshops  full  and  perfect,  I  would  at  the  same  time 
repeat  and  impress  upon  your  mind  that  we  have  no  room 
for  them.  I  believe  I  expressed  the  same  opinion  to  you 
in  my  letter  to  New  York.  I  was  therefore  surprised 
that  you  should  advertise  for  so  many  mechanics  ;  we 
had  applications  for  membership  almost  every  day  from 


296  ROBERT   OWEN 

various  quarters  and  from  then  wc  have  received  more 
than  gone  away.  We  have  received  a  good  many 
valuable  mechanics  since  you  lett  us,  and  all  the  brick 
and  frame  houses  are  filled  except  one,  which  we  reserved 
tor  those  you  might  bring  with  you,  it  having  been 
\acated  lately.  We  shall  find  some  difficulty  in  finding 
room  for  those  you  bring  with  you,  and  as  to  those 
with  whom  you  may  engage  in  New  York,  I  do  not 
know  what  we  can  tlo  with  them.  And  as  for  building 
houses,  that  is  at  present  out  of  the  question.  We 
have  no  lime,  no  rocks,  (ready  blasted)  no  brick,  no 
timber,  no  boards,  no  shingles,  nothing  requisite  for 
building,  and  as  to  getting  them  from  others,  they  are 
J  to  be  had  iu  the  whole  country.  We  must  ourselves 
jM'oduce  the  whole  of  them,  before  we  can  build,  we 
must  dig  and  burn  the  lime,  dig  and  blast  the  rocks, 
mould  and  burn  the  bricks,  fell  and  hew  the  timber, 
tell  and  saw  the  boards  and  split  the  shingles,  and  to 
tlo  all  these  things,  we  have  no  hands  to  spare,  or  the 
l^ranches  of  business  in  the  Society  must  stop,  and  they 
cannot  stop,  or  the  whole  Society  would  stop  too. 
These  are  the  facts  as  they  really  are  and  you  will  find 
them  so  when  you  come.  1  have  not  exaggerated  the 
difficulties  or  the  time  it  will  take  to  prepare  for  building. 
As  this  is  winter  of  course  we  can  do  but  little  in  this 
line.  As  to  fitting  up  other  houses,  such  as  the  church 
or  granary,  it  is  out  of  the  question.  We  have  no 
hiniber  to  make  partitions  of,  and  there  is  none  to  be 
hatl,  till  we  saw  it,  in  the  country,  which  we  cannot 
do  till  the  creeks  rise.  Besides,  the  granary  is  full  of 
grain,  and  the  church  is  the  school.  F'urther,  no  means 
of  cooking  whatever.     Besides,  as    McDonald  observes, 


NEW    HARMONY  297 

we  must  not  immediately  curtail  their  comforts  and 
conveniences,  which  would  necessarily  be  if  put  in  such 
places  to  sleep.  On  this  account  I  had  hoped  you  would 
have  brought  no  Eastern  mechanics,  and  also  because 
those  who  are  already  accustomed  to  a  Western  life 
would  put  up  better  with  such  accommodations  because 
accustomed  to  them  more  and  we  can  get  plenty  of  them, 
when  we  can  receive  them  and  have  houses  for  them. 
If  you  can  bring  with  you  some  stoves  from  Louisville 
foundries,  and  also  abundance  of  stove  pipes,  we  could 
accommodate  more  people  in  our  present  houses  ;  the 
stoves  need  not  be  large,  the  cheaper  the  better.  We 
should  want  perhaps  20  stoves.  We  have  no  bed- 
ding for  any  body,  not  even  for  those  along  with 
you  ;  we  have  no  feathers,  no  ticking,  no  sheets,  no 
blankets.  You  must  buy  some,  or  every  one  must  bring 
with  them  enough  for  themselves.  The  sugar  is  gone, 
quite  gone,  and  the  river  being  low,  we  can  get  none 
till  it  rises.  We  use  about  2  barrels  per  week.  The 
store  will  be  quite  empty  in  six  weeks.  We  are  all  in 
good  spirits  and  the  gentlemen  of  the  Committee  desire 
best  remembrances. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"William   Owen." 

In  its  non-productive  activities,  however,  as  we  learn 
from  the  Gazette^  the  Society  had  more  success  to  record. 
The  tavern  was  constantly  filled  with  visitors  from  the 
neighbouring  States,  who  came  to  stay  at  New  Harmony. 
The  military  were  well  organised.  There  was  already 
a  company  of  Artillery,  one  of  Infantry,  and  a  corps 
of    Riflemen  ;    whilst    a   company    of    Veterans    and    a 


298  ROBERT   OWEN 

company  of  Fusiliers  were  being  formed.  About  one 
huiuired  ami  thirty  children  were  boarded  and  educated 
at  the  schools.  1^'inally,  the  need  of  recreation  had  not 
been  overlooked.  There  was  a  good  band,  and  many 
of  the  children  showed  decided  musical  talent.  A  ball 
was  held  every  Tuesday  evening  in  the  Town  Hall  (the 
large  cruciform  building  already  described)  ;  there  was 
a  concert  every  Friday  ;  and  Wednesday  evenings  were 
rrivcn  up  to  a  public  meeting  and  discussion  on  all 
matters  relati?ig  to  the  well-being  of  the  Society.  From 
other  sources  we  learn  that  the  church  and  Town  Hall 
were  thrown  open  on  Sundays  for  the  meetings  of 
different  religious  sects,  and  that  ministers  of  all  de- 
nominations were  given   full  liberty  to  preach.^ 

In  November  of  this  same  year  1825,  Robert  Owen 
returned  to  America,  accompanied  by  his  son  Robert, 
and  by  one  or  two  disciples,  amongst  them  Captain 
Macdonald,  formerly  a  prominent  member  of  the  Edin- 
burgh Practical  Society.^'  He  brought  with  him  also  a 
model,  nearly  six  feet  square,  of  the  proposed  Com- 
munity Buildings  which  he  presented  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  for  the  uses  of  the  General 
Government.^ 

Owen  returned  to  New  Harmony  on  January  12,  1826, 

bringing  with  him  some  of  those  men  of  science  to  whom 

reference    had    been    made    in    his    speech    of  April    27. 

Their  leader  was  one  William   Maclure,  a  native  of  Ayr 

in  Scotland,  who  had  already  made  Owen's  acquaintance 

in    a    visit    which   he   had   paid   to    New   Lanark,    in   July, 

'  Letter  dated    December,    1825,   printed    in    Co-operative  Magazine^ 
February,    1826. 

*  See  below,  Chapter  XV. 
Ncu>  Harmony  Gazette,   \'ol.  I.,   p.   118. 


NEW    HARMONY  299 

1824.  He  had  been  delighted  with  all  that  he  saw  there, 
especially  with  the  education  of  the  children,  and  with 
Owen's  plans  for  reorganising  society  "  so  as  to  drown 
the  self  in  an  ocean  of  sociality."  ^  Maclure  had  come 
to  America  towards  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  had  spent  several  years  in  making  single-handed  a 
geological  survey  of  the  United  States,  travelling  on 
foot  through  every  State  and  Territory  in  the  Union. 
The  results  of  his  gigantic  labours  were  published  in 
1809.  He  had  subsequently  helped  to  found  the 
Philadelphia  Academy  of  Science,  and  was  for  many 
years  the  President  of  that  body.  With  his  love  of 
natural  science  was  joined  a  passionate  enthusiasm  for 
popular  education.  He  had  long  been  ambitious  to 
found  an  agricultural  school  for  the  children  of  the  poor, 
i.e.  a  school  somewhat  after  the  model  of  Fellenberg's 
school  for  the  children  of  peasants,  in  which  "  physical 
labour  should  be  combined  with  moral  and  intellectual 
culture,"  the  labours  of  the  children  in  the  fields  helping 
to  defray  the  cost  of  their  schooling  in  the  classroom. 
A  man  of  considerable  wealth,  he  had  started  an  ex- 
perimental school  of  the  kind  on  a  large  scale  in  Spain, 
but  was  compelled  to  abandon  the  scheme  on  account 
of  the  unsettled  state  of  that  country.  Though  by  no 
means  agreeing  with  all  Owen's  economic  views,  he 
was  sufficiently  in  sympathy  with  him  to  be  willing  to 
co-operate  in  the  New  Harmony  experiment,  mainly, 
no  doubt,  because  he  saw  in  it  a  favourable  opportunity 
for  giving  effect  to  his  educational  theories.  He  agreed 
therefore,  to  advance  some  of  the  capital  needed  to  float 

^  From  Maclure's  Diary,   which  is   preserved   in  the  New  Harmony 
Public  Library. 


300  ROBERT    OWEN 

the  scheme,  and  to  give  his  personal  assistance  to  the 
Community   Schools.^ 

With  Maclurc  came  Thomas  Say,  a  distinguished 
zoologist,  afterwards  known  as  author  of  an  American 
F.ntomolog^  and  an  ybnerican  Conchology^  the  latter  work, 
having  been  printed  at  New  Harmony  ;  Charles  Lesueur, 
a  French  naturalist  and  draughtsman,  who  drew  some 
of  the  engravings  in  the  conchology  above  referred  to, 
known  also  for  his  work  on  American  freshwater  fishes  ; 
(icr;ird  Troost,  a  distinguished  Dutch  chemist  and 
geologist,  afterwards  Professor  of  Chemistry  at  Nashville 
University;  Joseph  Neef,  an  ex-soldier,  who  had  been 
a  master  under  Pestalozzi  at  Yverdun  ;  Phiquepal 
d'Arusmont,  afterwards  the  husband  of  Frances  Wright  ; 
Madame  Marie  Fretageot  (both  Pestalozzian  teachers), 
and  several  others.  The  distinguished  party  travelled  by 
boat  down  the  Ohio  to  New  Harmony — "  the  Boatload 
of  Knowledge,"  as  it  was  called — reaching  that  place  on 
January    I2,    1826. 

It  had  been  Owen's  original  intention,  as  we  have 
seen,  to  wait  for  three  years — i.e.  until  about  the  end 
of  1827,  before  attempting  to  constitute  a  Community  of 
F^quality.  On  his  arrival,  however,  in  January,  1826,  he 
seems  to  have  been  so  much  pleased,  both  with  the 
material  prosperity  of  the  colony  and  with  the  progress 
made  by  the  members  of  the  Community  in  the  principles 

•  It  is  not  clear  how  much  money  Maclurc  actually  advanced.  The 
original  intention  had  been  that  he  and  Owen  should  each  put  down  a 
like  sum.  Maclure  subsec|uently  stijiulatcd  that  his  risk  should  be  limited 
to  /^2,ooo  (io,(xx)  dollars).  Later,  Owen  expressly  stated  that  "Mr. 
Maclure  before  he  went  (to  New  Harmony)  advanced  a  part,  and  only 
a  small  part,  of  the  purchase  money  for  the  real  proj:)crty."  (Address 
at  rhiladelphia  on  June  27,  1827,  reported  in  IVcw  Harmony  Gazette, 
Vol.  II.,  p.  353.) 


NEW   HARMONY  301 

of  true  fellowship  and  co-operation,  that  he  proposed  to 
them  that  they  should  cut  short  their  period  of  probation, 
and  enter  at  once  upon  the  final  and  perfect  stage  of 
social  development. 

Accordingly  a  general  meeting  of  the  residents  was 
summoned  on  January  25,  which  straightway  elected  a 
committee  of  seven  persons  to  draw  up  a  constitution 
for  the  community.  Amongst  the  seven  were  William 
and  R.  Dale  Owen  and  Captain  Donald  Macdonald. 
The  committee  reported  to  the  convention  on  Febru- 
ary I,  and  the  convention  at  its  ninth  sitting,  on  Sunday, 
February  5,  1826,  finally  adopted  a  constitution.  The 
document  begins  with  a  statement  of  objects  and  principles 
and  a  profession  of  faith.  Then  follow  the  articles  of 
union.  Article  No.  I  prescribes  the  title — ''  The  New 
Harmony  Community  of  Equality." 

Article  No.  II.  runs — "  All  the  members  of  the 
Community  shall  be  considered  as  one  family,  and  no  one 
shall  be  held  in  higher  or  lower  estimation  on  account 
of  occupation. 

"  There  shall  be  similar  food,  clothing  and  education, 
as  near  as  can  be,  furnished  for  all  according  to  their 
ages  and,  as  soon  as  practicable,  all  shall  live  in  similar 
houses,  and  in  all  respects  be  accommodated  alike. 

"  Every  member  shall  render  his  or  her  best  service 
for  the  good  of  the  whole." 

The  Community  was  to  be  divided  into  six  depart- 
ments— Agriculture  ;  Manufactures  ;  Literature,  Science 
and  Education  ;  Domestic  Economy  ;  General  Economy ; 
Commerce  :  each  department  should  again  be  sub- 
divided into  occupations.  Each  occupation  should 
choose  an  Intendent,  the  Intendents  should  choose  four 


302  ROBERT    OWEN 

Superintendents — and  all  these  officers,  together  with 
the  Secretary,  should  constitute  the  Executive  Council. 
The  real  estate  was  to  be  vested  in  the  Community 
as  a  whole. ^ 

Thus  the  Society  at  one  step  emerged  from  the 
chrysalis  stage  of  modified  individualism  into  the  winged 
glory  of  pure  communism.  Prior  to  February  5,  the 
value  of  the  labour  of  each  individual  had  been  reckoned 
up  and  placed  to  his  credit  at  the  Communal  Stores,  and 
he  had  drawn  upon  this  credit  to  procure  whatever 
provisions  or  other  articles  he  required.  But  in  the 
new  Society  there  was  to  be  no  discrimination  between 
one  man's  labour  and  another's  ;  nor  any  buying  and 
selling  within  the  hounds  of  the  Community.  Each 
man  was  to  give  of  his  labour  according  to  his  ability 
and  to  receive  food,  clothing  and  shelter  according  to 
his    needs. 

In  a  private  letter  written  by  W.  Pelham  (afterwards 
for  some  months  editor  of  the  New  Harmony  Gazette) 
to  his  son,  dated  February  8,  three  days  after  the 
adoption  of  the  constitution,  we  have  an  interesting 
picture  of  the  enthusiasm  prevailing  at  the  time.  After 
describing  the  free  and  exhaustive  criticism  to  which  the 
draft  constitution  had  been  subjected,  and  its  final 
acceptance,  the  writer  proceeds — "  Hitherto  there  had 
been  much  irregularity  of  effort,  the  consequences  of 
which  nearly  paralysed  the  energies  of  the  population  : 
but  at  length  I  see  the  way  clear,  and  I  see  the  utter 
impossibility  of  such  a  state  of  things  again  recurring. 
The  several  parts  of  the  great  machine  will  be  so 
admirably  adapted  to  each  other  as  to  effect  the  most 
'  New  Uarmuny  Gazette,  Vol.  1.,  pp.  161,  162. 


NEW   HARMONY  303 

valuable  purposes.  I  anticipate  that  in  six  months  the 
New  Harmony  machine  will  go  like  clockwork."  .  .  . 
Again,  referring  to  the  pending  election  of  officers,  he 
writes — "  This  is  an  anxious  time  (not  with  a  view  to 
the  final  success  of  our  principles,  which  must  infallibly 
succeed  sooner  or  later,  but)  with  a  view  to  the 
speedy  accomplishment  of  the  purposes  for  which  we  are 
associated."  The  writer's  tribute  to  Owen  is  worth 
quoting — "  He  is  an  extraordinary  man,  a  wonderful 
man — such  a  one  indeed  as  the  world  has  never  before 
seen.  His  wisdom,  his  comprehensive  mind,  his  practical 
knowledge,  but  above  all,  his  openness,  candour  and 
sincerity,  have  no  parallel  in  ancient  or  modern 
history."  ^ 

As  Mr.  Pelham  surmised,  it  would  appear  that  the 
new  constitution,  with  all  that  it  implied,  was  adopted 
with  but  few  dissentient  voices.  Amongst  the  dissentients, 
however,  was  Captain  Macdonald.  In  an  interesting 
letter  which  appeared  in  the  New  Harmony  Gazette  of 
February  22,  he  explains  why  he  could  not  join  the 
new  Community.  Practically  he  objected  to  the  whole 
system  of  representative  government,  even  a  thoroughly 
democratic  government,  such  as  that  proposed  by  the 
new  constitution.     In  his  view  the  machinery  of  repre- 

^  I  owe  this  letter  to  Professor  Earl  Barnes,  who  kindly  lent  me  a 
copy  which  he  had  himself  made  from  the  original  (now  at  New  Harmony) 
in  April,  1890.  A  writer  who  visited  New  Harmony  in  August,  1825, 
gives  similar  testimony  to  the  impression  produced  by  Owen's  character, 
"  Perhaps  there  has  seldom  been  an  instance  in  modern  times  where  a 
benevolent  individual  has  obtained  such  a  complete  ascendency  over  the 
minds  of  others,  and  such  a  thorough  conviction  of  the  rectitude  of  his 
intentions,  as  this  gentleman  established  during  his  short  stay  of  only 
a  few  months  among  us.  Every  one  seemed  to  repose  upon  his  promises 
with  undoubting  confidence."  (Quoted  in  the  Co-operative  Magazine  of 
February,  1826,  p.  49.) 


304  ROBERT    OWEN 

scntation  and  election  would  inevitably  lead  to  suspicions, 
jealousies  and  factions.  He  held  that  the  organisation 
of  industry  and  all  the  details  of  the  working  of  the 
Society  should  be  settled  in  the  open  family  assembly, 
that  all  niiLi^ht  know  what  was  going  on,  and  that  each 
individual  man  or  woman  might  feel  that  he  or  she 
had  a  voice  in  all  the  decisions  arrived  at.  Clearly  a 
Community  of  eight  hundred  or  one  thousand  persons 
was  too  unwieldy  to  be  worked  on  these  lines.  With 
such  numbers  some  form  of  representation  or  delegation 
was  a  mechanical  necessity.  Macdonald's  strictures, 
however,  were  probably  not  without  justiiication.  The 
constitution,  which  was  no  doubt  partly  modelled  on  the 
system  in  force  at  the  New  Lanark  Mills,  was  too 
elaborate  ;  and  in  a  Community  of  Equality  the  mere 
existence  of  Intendents  and  Superintendents  constituted 
the  most  glaring  of  inequalities.  Macdonald's  views 
were  apparently  to  some  extent  shared  by  others.  For 
the  new  constitution  did  not  march  in  accordance  with 
the  hopes  of  its  authors.  At  any  rate  the  general 
assembly  on  February  19  passed  a  resolution  requesting 
Owen  to  assist  for  one  year  in  conducting  and  super- 
intending the  affairs  of  the   Society. 

Then  tor  a  time  all  seemed  to  promise  well.  An 
editorial  in  the  Gazette  of  March  22  breathes  a  spirit 
of  optimism  worthy  of  Owen  himself  The  article 
begins  by  admitting  that  hitherto  they  have  spent  too 
much  time  in  debate,  and  in  the  endeavour  to  reconcile 
conflicting  opinions.  *'  We  have  discovered  that  our 
energies  have  been  wasted  in  fruitless  eftbrts,  each  one 
endeavouring  to  convince  the  others  that  he  alone 
possessed  the  power  of  unlocking  the  treasures  of  social 


NEW    HARMONY 


305 


life.  This  error  is  happily  dispelled.  By  the  indefatigable 
attention  of  Mr.  Owen,  a  degree  of  order,  of  regularity 
and  system  has  been  introduced  into  every  department 
of  business  which  promises  increase  and  permanency. 
The  town  now  presents  a  scene  of  active  and  steady 
industry,  the  effects  of  which  are  visible  and  palpable. 
The  Society  is  gradually  becoming  really,  as  well  as 
ostensibly,  a  Community  of  Equality,  based  on  the  equal 
rights  and  equal  duties  of  all.  Our  streets  no  longer  ex- 
hibit groups  of  idle  talkers — but  each  one  is  busily  engaged 
in  the  occupation  he  has  chosen  for  his  employment.  Our 
public  meetings,  instead  of  being  the  arena  of  contending 
orators,  have  assumed  a  different  character,  and  are  now 
places  of  business.  .  .  .  No  vain  disputations  now  grate 
upon  the  ears  of  patient  industry."  ^ 

But  the  Society  was  too  large  and  its  elements  too 
heterogeneous  for  all  to  work  smoothly.  William 
Maclure,  writing  to  Professor  Silliman  on  March  16, 
explains  that  they  had  succeeded  better  than  they  had 
any  reason  to  expect.  But  they  ''  found  it  much  easier 
to  assimilate  a  few  having  the  same  pursuits  than  many 
having  different  occupations."  There  were,  moreover, 
it  is  evident,  social  inequalities,  religious  differences,  and 
national  idiosyncrasies  to  create  disunion,  or  at  lowest, 
to  hinder  the  complete  amalgamation  required.  "  It  was 
therefore  decided,"  continues  Maclure,  ''to  divide  into 
small  communities  the  land  surrounding  Harmony,  and 
already  two  Societies  are  formed,  one  with  1,200  acres 
of  good  land,  the  other  with  1,100  acres,  at  83.60  and 
at  85  dollars  per  acre,  seven  years  credit  being 
allowed,   and  5   years    afterwards  to    pay  it  "   by  annual 

*  New  Harmony  Gazette,  Vol.  I.,  p.  207. 
VOL.    I.  20 


3o6  ROBERT    OWFN 

instalments.      Money  was  also  advanced  for  stocking  the 
land,  etc/ 

The  two  Communities  were  named  Macluria  and 
Feiba  Peveli,  the  first  separating,  it  is  said,  mainly  on 
relie^ious  grounds,  the  second,  which  consisted  chiefly  of 
English  country  folk,  on  racial  differences.  These  two 
Societies  adopted  a  common  profession  of  faith,  and  a 
constitution  differing  little  from  that  of  the  parent  Society. 
The  most  notable  difference  was  that  the  executive 
powers  were  vested  in  a  non-elective  body — a  council 
of  fathers — who  in  Macluria  were  to  be  the  five  oldest 
members  of  the  community  under  the  age  of  sixty-five. 
In  Feiba  Peveli  the  limiting  age  was  fixed  at  fitty-five. 
Both  societies  appear  to  have  contemplated  a  system  of 
pure  communism. - 

In  a  leader  commenting  on  the  formation  of  the 
two  new  Societies,  the  New  Ha'rmony  Gazette  remarks 
''  that  the  formation  of  communities  is  now  pretty  well 
understood  among  us,  and  is  entered  upon  like  a 
matter    of    ordinary    business."^     Again,   in    an   address 

'  The  letter  from  which  the  above  extract  is  quoted  originally 
appeared  in  Si/limafis  Journal.  It  is  re[)rinted  in  the  Co-operative 
Afa^azinc  for  November,  1826. 

'  For  an  account  of  Macluria  see  Ne7u  Harmony  Gazette,  Vol.  I.,  p.  209. 
P'or  Feil)a  Peveli,  Jln'd.,  p.  225.  The  name  calls  for  explanation.  Stedman 
Whitwcll,  its  godfather  and  presumable  founder,  invented  a  system  of 
nomenclature  under  which  the  name  of  a  place  should  contain  an 
indication  of  its  latitude  and  longitude  \  a  01  b  representing  \,  e  ox  d  =  2, 
the  diphthong  ei  =  8,  and  so  on.  Thus  Feiba  Peveli  =  38.11  N.,  87.53  ^^^• 
Under  this  system  New  Harmony  (38. 1 1  N.,  87.55  ^)  might  be  called  Ipba 
Veinul  ;  Orbiston  (55.34  N.,  4.3  W.)  would  be  Ulio  Ovuoti  ;  London  and 
Paris  might  be  known  henceforth  as  Lafa-Tovutu  and  Oput  Tedou  re- 
spectively. The  system  is  recommended  by  its  author  as  agreeable  alike 
to  the  man  of  common  sense  and  to  the  man  of  taste  !  {A'ew  Harmony 
Gazette,  \'ol.  I.,  pp.  226,  227.) 

»  Ibid.,  Vol.  1..  p.  230. 


NEW    HARMONY 


307 


published    on    May   10   containing   a    retrospect    of   the 

previous  year,  Robert  Owen,  with  his  perennial  optimism, 

finds  only  cause  for  congratulation  in  the  multiplication 

of  Communities.     *' In  one  short  year,"   he  says,  ''the 

mass    of  confusion,  and   in   many   instances  of  bad  and 

irregular  habits,  has  been  formed  into  a  Community  of 

mutual  co-operation  and  equality,  now  proceeding  rapidly 

towards  a   state  of  regular   organisation  ;  and  out  of  it 

two  other  Communities  have  been  formed  and  are  located 

in    the    immediate    neighbourhood.      Both    are    in    close 

union  with  this  Community  and  with  each  other  ;  both 

are  founded    on    the  true  communistic  principles " — the 

principles  of  equality  and  common  property.     Macluria, 

indeed,   would   have   grain  and  vegetables  of  their   own 

growing    to    supply    the    year's    consumption  ;    and    had 

already  built  and  occupied  comfortable  temporary  cabins. 

Feiba  also  had  much  land  under  cultivation,  and  seemed 

assured  of  ultimate  success. 

On  July  4,  Independence  Day,  1826,  Owen  delivered 
at  New  Harmony  an  oration  inaugurating  the  era  of 
mental  independence  :  and  thereafter  the  Gazette  bears 
on  its  title  page  the  legend  ''  First  (Second,  etc.)  year 
of  Mental  Independence."^ 

It  happens  that  we  have  pictures  from  several  different 
hands  of  the  state  of  New  Harmony  in  the  early  months 
of  1826.  Robert  Dale  Owen  gives  a  few  pages  to  it 
in  his  Autobiography?  Reaching  New  Harmony  early 
in  1826  in  his  twenty-fifth  year,  full  of  faith  in  the  new 
order  of  society  which  his  father  was  about  to  inaugurate, 
he  was  intoxicated  with  the  freedom,  the  good  fellowship, 
the  enthusiasm  which  he  found  prevailing.  It  was, 
^  New  Harmony  Gazette^  Vol.  I,,  p  329.  -  pp.  244  et  s^.q. 


3o8  ROBERT   OWEN 

indeed,  the  land  of  youth  and  hope.  There  were 
concerts  and  weekly  dances,  and  all  manner  of  social 
intercourse  ;  there  were,  above  all,  the  weekly  discussions 
in  which  matters  of  high  moment  were  debated  with 
.ill  the  freedom  and  fine  seriousness  of  youth.  The 
housing,  no  doubt,  was  of  the  rudest,  the  fare  of  the 
simplest,  and  there  was  plenty  of  hard  work  for  those 
who  cared  to  undertake  it.  But  these  things  do  but 
idd  zest  to  a  picnic,  or  to  a  camping-out  expedition. 
And  here  was  a  picnic  on  whose  issues  depended  the 
regeneration   of  the   world. 

Young  Owen's  zeal  impelled  him  to  volunteer  for 
all  the  hard  work  that  came  along.  He  helped  to  pull 
down  some  of  the  oldest  and  most  dilapidated  of  the 
\'illage  cabins  ;  he  took  a  turn  at  sowing  wheat,  until 
his  arm  refused  any  longer  to  perform  its  office  ;  he 
helped  to  bake  bread,  and  by  a  unanimous  vote  was 
awarded  the  product  of  his  labours  for  his  own  sole 
consumption.  But  he  soon  left  these  undertakings  to 
others,  and  found  more  congenial  employment  in  helping 
to  edit  the  Gazette^  and  in  teaching  in  the  schools.  He 
took  also  a  prominent  part  in  the  government  of  the 
infant  colony. 

On  April  13,  1826,  there  came  to  New  Harmony 
a  distinguished  European  traveller,  Charles  Bernard, 
Grand  Duke  of  Saxe-Wcimar-Eisenach.  The  Duke 
was  an  acute  and  interested  observer,  and  tells  us  a 
good  tleal  about  the  real  condition  of  affairs.  He  lodged 
at  the  Community  tavern  and  found  the  accommodation 
passable.  In  the  tavern  he  met  a  man  *' very  plainly 
dressed,  about  fifty  years  of  age,  of  rather  low  stature," 
who  proved    to  be   Owen  himself      Owen  showed   him 


NEW   HARMONY  309 

all  over  the  Community,  and  expounded  to  him  all  his 
plans  and  his  hopes  for  the  future,  and  the  Duke 
marvelled  at  Owen's  invulnerable  belief  in  his  ability 
to  remake  the  world.  The  Duke  tells  us  that  Owen's 
faith  was  by  no  means  shared  by  the  New  Harmonites 
with  whom  he  talked.  Moreover,  he  saw  signs  of  the 
early  breaking-up  of  the  Society.  He  talked  with  Mr. 
Jennings  (one  of  the  committee  of  seven  who  had  drawn 
up  the  new  constitution,  and  for  some  time  editor  of 
the  Gazette).  Mr.  Jennings,  he  found,  "  intended  to 
leave  the  place  and  go  to  Philadelphia.  Many  other 
members  have  the  same  design,  and  I  can  hardly  believe 
the  Society  will  have  a  long  duration.  Enthusiasm,  which 
soon  abandons  its  subjects,  as  well  as  the  itch  for  novelty, 
have  contributed  much  to  the  formation  of  the  Society. 
In  spite  of  the  principles  of  equality  which  they 
recognise,  it  taxes  the  feelings  to  live  on  the  same 
footing  with  others  indiscriminately,  and  eat  with  them 
at  the  same  table.  ..."  Two  things  specially  impressed 
the  Duke  :  the  extreme  frugality  of  the  living,  and 
the  difficulty  of  amalgamating  different  social  grades. 
In  fact  he  found  that  in  their  amusements  and  social 
meetings,  at  all  events,  the  better  educated  classes  kept 
together.  The  working  men,  he  notes  on  his  first  evening, 
did  not  join  in  the  dance  in  the  public  hall,  but  read  the 
newspapers  scattered  on  the  tables  ;  and  later  he  remarks 
that  when  partners  were  assigned  for  the  cotillon  by 
drawing  numbers,  "  the  young  ladies  turned  up  their 
noses  at  the  democratic  dancers  who  often  in  this  way 
fell  to  their  lot."  Even  at  the  lectures  the  better 
educated  members  kept  themselves  together  and  took 
no   notice  of  the   others  ;  but   the   Duke   observed   that 


3IO  ROBERT   OWEN 

some  tatterdemalions  placed  themselves  on  the  platform 
close  to  Owen.  Again,  there  was  a  distinctive  Community 
dress,  which  was  worn  almost  exclusively  by  the  more 
aristocratic  members.  The  costume  of  the  men  consisted 
of  "  wide  pantaloons  buttoned  over  a  boy's  jacket  made 
of  light  material,  without  a  collar  ;  that  of  the  women  of 
a  coat  reaching  to  the  knee  and  of  pantaloons  such  a^ 
little  girls  wear  among  us/'  The  Duke  even  hazarded 
the  remark  that  these  dresses  "  have  a  good  appearance." 
But   *'  Hermann's  a  German." 

But  after  all,  the  most  prominent  item  in  the 
Duke's  narrative  is  the  dancing.  During  the  first  six 
days  of  his  visit  he  witnessed  dancing  every  evening. 
On  the  Tuesday  there  was  a  formal  ball  in  the  public 
hall — the  cruciform  building  already  referred  to.  The 
Duke  notes  that  there  was  "a  particular  place  marked 
off  for  the  children  to  dance  in,  in  the  centre  of  the 
hall,  where  they  could  gambol  about  without  running 
between  the  legs  of  the  grown  persons."  But  on  the 
other  evenings  the  dances  were  impromptu  affairs,  or 
were  merely  sandwiched  in  between  lectures  and  concerts. 
Here  is  an  account  of  his  Sunday  evening  in  the  settle- 
ment. "  In  the  evening  I  paid  visits  to  some  ladies, 
and  saw  the  philosophy  and  the  love  of  equality  put 
to  a  severe  test  with  one  of  them.  She  is  jiamed  \Mrginia, 
from  Philadelphia,  is  very  young  and  pretty,  was  delicately 
brought  up,  and  appears  to  have  taken  refuge  here  on 
account  ot  an  unhappy  attachment.  While  she  was 
singing  and  playing  very  well  on  the  piano,  she  was 
told  that  the  milking  of  the  cows  was  her  duty,  and 
that  they  were  waiting.  Almost  in  tears  she  betook 
herself  to  this  servile  employment,  execrating  the  Social 


I 


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""X    AND 

L 


NEW   HARMONY 


311 


System  and  its  so  much  prized  equality.  After  the  cows 
were  milked,  in  doing  which  the  young  girl  was  trod 
on  by  one  and  mired  by  another,  I  joined  an  aquatic 
party  with  the  young  ladies  and  some  young  philosophers 
in  a  very  good  boat  upon  the  inundated  meadows  along 
the  Wabash.  The  evening  was  beautiful,  it  was  moon- 
light and  the  air  was  very  mild.  The  beautiful  Miss 
Virginia  forgot  her  stable  experiences,  and  regaled  us 
with  her  sweet  voice.  Somewhat  later  we  collected  at 
House  No.  2,  appointed  for  the  School  House,  where 
all  the  young  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  quality  assembled. 
W^e  amused  ourselves  during  the  whole  remainder  of  the 
evening  dancing  cotillons  and  waltzes,  and  with  such 
animation  as  rendered  it  quite  lively.  New  figures  had 
been  introduced  among  the  cotillons,  among  which  was 
one  called  '  The  new  Social  System.'  Several  of  the 
ladies  made  objection  to  dancing  on  Sunday  ;  we  thought, 
however,  that  in  this  sanctuary  of  philosophy  such  prejudices 
should  be  entirely  discarded,  and  our  arguments,  as 
well  as  the  inclinations  of  the  ladies,  gained  the 
victory."   .   .   . 

On  the  following  day  the  Duke  was  invited  to  dinner 
in  House  No.  4.  "  Some  gentlemen  had  been  out 
hunting  and  brought  home  a  wild  turkey,  which  must 
be  consumed.  The  turkey  formed  the  whole  dinner. 
Upon  the  whole  I  cannot  complain  either  of  an  over- 
loaded stomach  or  a  headache  from  the  wine.  The 
living  was  frugal  in  the  strictest  sense." 

The  Duke  visited  Communities  Nos.  2  and  3  and 
notes  that  Maclure  had  broken  off  from  the  parent 
Society  mainly  on  religious  grounds  ;  and  Feiba  Peveli 
from   social   prejudice,  the  latter   Community   consisting 


312 


ROBERT   OWEN 


chiefly     of    English     country     people,     who     found    the 
cosmopolitanism  of  New  Harmony  little  to  their  taste. ^ 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say,  of  any  Community 
founded  under  Robert  Owen's  inspiration,  that  a  school 
for  the  children  was  one  of  the  first  objects  of  the 
Society's  care.  Robert  Dale  Owen  tells  us  that  when 
his  father  left  New  Harmony  in  June,  1825,  after 
starting  the  Preliminary  Society,  he  left  behind  him  a 
school  in  which  one  hundred  and  thirty  children  were 
boarded,  clothed  and  educated  at  the  public  expense."  The 
first  number  of  the  Gazette  (October  i,  1825)  contains 
an  advertisement  of  the  school,  intimating  that  there 
were  vacancies  for  a  limited  number  of  children  from 
the  outside.^  The  inclusive  fees  for  outsiders  were  100 
dollars  a  year.  But  when  William  Maclure  arrived  on 
the  scene  in  January,  1826,  he  took  entire  charge  of 
the  schools,  which  hereafter  appear  to  have  been  run 
as  a  separate  undertaking,  under  the  name  of  the 
Education  Society.  In  the  letter  to  Professor  Silliman 
already  cited,  Maclure  explains  his  views  on  education. 
Children,  he  says,  have  hitherto  been  unjustly  treated, 
by  being  given  tasks  which  were  useless  and,  to  them, 
unintelligible.  The  propensitv  to  imitation,  he  points 
out,  is  very  strong  in  children,  and  he  proposed  to  take 
advantage  of  this  propensity  to  teach  them  the  trades 
and  occupations  followed  by  their  elders,  as  fiir  as  their 

'  Travels  tfirou<(/i  X.  Atnerica  duriu<j;  the  years  1825-6,  by  Il.K.H. 
Charles  Bernard,  Duko  of  Saxe-VVeiinar-Eisenach  (translated),  Phila- 
delphia, 1828,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  106-123. 

'  Threading  my  Way,  p.  229.  It  ai)j)oars,  however,  from  Owen's 
speech  of  May  27,  1827  (quoted  below),  that  a  great  part  of  the  cost 
came  out  of  Owen's  own  pocket. 

'  Lock  wood,  op.  cit.y  p.  1 93,  states  that  these  pupils  came  from  as  far 
cast  as  Philadelphia  and  New  York. 


NEW   HARMONY  313 

feebler  strength  would  permit.  In  that  way  their  willing 
interest  would  be  secured  and — an  important  point  for 
the  poor — the  products  of  their  labour  in  field  or  work- 
shop would  go  far  to  defray  the  cost  of  their  subsistence  and 
their  education  in  the  necessary  arts  of  writing,  arithmetic, 
in  natural  history,  etc.  Moreover,  as  they  would  never 
be  idle  they  would  be  always  kept  from  mischief  "  All  our 
vacations  are  injurious  to  youth  and  only  serve  the  caprice 
or  the  pecuniary  interests  of  the  Master."  In  a  letter 
dated  July  4,  1826,  addressed  to  the  Editor  of  the  Revue 
Encyclopedtque^  Maclure  gives  further  particulars  of  the 
progress  made  at  New  Harmony.  The  Education 
Society  had  purchased  from  Owen,  at  a  price  apparently 
of  30,000  or  40,000  dollars  in  all,  900  acres  of  good 
land  for  the  experimental  farm,  several  houses  large 
and  small,  "  two  large  granaries  and  stables  for  the 
experimental  farming  school  ;  a  large  public  building 
now  converted  into  workshops  for  the  instruction  of  the 
boys  in  the  useful  arts  "  [the  latter  was  apparently  the 
Rappites'  wooden  church]  "  and  a  hall  to  be  employed 
as  a  museum,  for  meetings,  lectures,  &c."  There  were 
nearly  four  hundred  children  already  in  the  schools, 
divided  as  follows  :  one  hundred  between  two  and  five 
years  of  age,  under  the  direction  of  Madame  Fretageot  ; 
nearly  two  hundred  from  five  to  twelve  years  old,  under 
the  direction  of  M.  Neef  with  his  four  daughters  and 
his  son — all  pupils  of  Pestalozzi  ;  and  eighty  in  the 
church  under  M.  Phiquepal  d'Arusmont,  who  taught 
the  useful  arts  and  mathematics.  The  children  under 
M.  Phiquepal  had  produced  in  six  weeks  produce  to  the 
value  of  900  dollars.  Owen's  two  sons  were  engaged 
^  Reprinted  in  the  Co-operative  Magazine  for  December,  1826. 


3H 


ROBERT   OWEN 


in  the  schools,  and  MM.  Say,  Troost  and  Lesueur  taught 
natural   history,  chemistry,  drawing,  etc. 

Robert  Dale  Owen,  after  trying  his  hand,  as  already 
said,  at  various  agricultural  and  domestic  employments, 
took  charge  for  a  time  of  the  elder  boys,  and  found  the 
task  of  managing  them  no  sinecure.  They  were,  he  tells 
us,  a  rough,  boisterous,  lawless  set,  not  wanting  in  mother- 
wit,  but  impatient  of  discipline  and  social  restraints  of 
any  kind — as  might,  indeed,  be  expected  from  the 
children  of  their  fathers.  Dale  Owen  insisted  that  no 
corporal  punishment  should  be  permitted,  and  his  account 
of  how  ultimately  he  succeeded  in  establishing  perfect 
obedience  by  no  other  means  than  his  own  common 
sense  and  sheer  goodwill  shows  him  to  have  been  a 
true  son  of  his  father.^ 

The  Duke  of  Saxe- Weimar  naturally  paid  a  visit  to 
the  schools.  ''  I  found  Professor  Neef,"  he  writes,  "  in 
the  act  of  leading  the  boys  of  the  school  out  to  labour. 
Military  exercises  formed  a  part  of  the  instruction  of 
the  children.  I  saw  the  boys  divided  into  two  ranks 
and  parted  into  detachments,  marching  to  labour.  On 
the  way  they  performed  various  wheelings  and  evolutions. 
y\ll  the  boys  and  girls  have  a  very  healthy  look,  are 
cheerful  and  lively  and  by  no  means  bashful.  The  boys 
labour  in  the  field  or  the  garden,  and  were  now  occupied 
with  new  fencing.  The  girls  learned  female  employments  ; 
they  are  as  little  oppressed  as  the  boys  with  labour  and 
teaching  ;  these  happy  and  interesting  little  children  were 
nuich  more  employed  in  making  their  youth  pass  as 
happily  as  possible.  Madame  Neef  showed  me  their 
schoolhouse,  in  which   she  dwelt,   and  in  which   places  for 

'    Threading  viy  \\  \i)\  pp.  246  9. 


NEW   HARMONY  315 

sleeping  were  arranged  for  the  boys.     Each  slept  upon 
a   cot  frame,    on    a    straw    bed."     Later    on,    the    Duke 
"  went  to  the  quondam  church,  a  workshop  for  the  boys 
who    are   intended  for  joiners    and  shoemakers.     These 
boys   sleep   upon  the   floor    above  the    church    in    cribs, 
three  in  a   row,   and  thus  have  their  sleeping  place  and 
place  of  instruction  close  together.''     There  was  also  an 
infant  school  conducted  by  Madame  Neef  and  Madame 
Fretageot.      A  quaint  picture  of  the  girls'  school  is  given 
by    a    former    pupil,    Mrs.     Thrall,    who     died    at    New 
Harmony  some  years  back.     She  wrote  that  "  in  summer 
the  girls  wore  dresses  of  coarse  linen  with  a  coarse  plaid 
costume  for  Sunday  or  for  special  occasions.     In  winter 
they  wore  heavy  woollen  dresses.     At  rising  a  detail  of 
the  girls  was  sent  out  to  do  the  milking,  and  this  milk, 
with     mush    cooked    in    large     kettles,     constituted    the 
essential  part  of  the  morning  meal,  which   the  children 
were    expected    to    finish    in    fifteen    minutes.     We   had 
bread    but   once    a  week,  on   Saturday.     I  thought   if  I 
ever  got  out  I  would  kill  myself  eating  sugar  and  cake. 
We    marched     in     military    order,    after    breakfast,     to 
Community  House  No.  2.     I  remember  that  there  were 
blackboards   covering   one   side    of  the  schoolroom,  and 
that  we  had  wires,    with    balls   on   them,    by    which  we 
learnt  to  count.     We  also  had  singing  exercises  by  which 
we  familiarised  ourselves  with  lessons  in  various  branches. 
At  dinner  we  generally  had   soup,  at  supper  mush   and 
milk  again.     We  went  to  bed  at  sundown  in  little  bunks 
suspended  in  rows  by  cords  from  the  ceiling.     Sometimes 
one  of  the  children  at  the  end  of  the  row  would  swing 
back   her    cradle,   and  when    it    collided    on    the   return 
bound  with  the  next  bunk,  it  set  the  whole  row  bumping 


3i6  ROBERT   OWEN 

together.  This  was  a  favourite  diversion,  and  caused 
the  teachers  much  distress.  At  regular  intervals  we  used 
ti)  be  marched  to  the  Community  apothecary's  shop, 
where  a  dose  that  tasted  like  sulphur  was  impartially 
dealt  out  to  each  pupil.  Children  regularly  in  the 
hoarding  school  were  not  allowed  to  see  their  parents, 
except  at  rare  intervals.  1  saw  my  father  and  mother 
twice  in  two  years.  We  had  a  little  song  we  used  to 
sing  :— 

Number  2  pigs  locked  up  in  a  pen 
When  they  get  out — it's  now  and  then  ; 
When  they  get  out  they  smell  about ; 
For  fear  old  Neef  will  find  them  out  ! "  ^ 

Such  harmony  dwells  in  immortal  souls,  when 
nourished  on   a  sufficiency   of  mush  and   milk  ! 

l^rom  one  Paul  Brown,  who  came  into  the  Com- 
munity at  the  beginning  of  April,  1826,  we  hear  of 
dissension  and  distrust  as  prevalent  amongst  the  mem- 
bers.' By  the  constitution  of  February  5,  it  was  pro- 
vided that  the  real  estate  should  be  held  in  trust  for 
the  use  of  the  Community,  and  that  members  leaving  the 
Community  should  be  entitled  to  receive  only  the  money 
which  they  had  actually  brought  into  the  common  stock, 
and  a  proportionate  part  of  the  value  of  any  real  estate 
acijuired  by  the  Community  during  their  membership. 
The  measures  by  which  the  real  estate  was  to  be  trans- 
ferred trom  Owen  to  the  Community  are  nowhere  set 
torth  in  the  Gazette.  But  Brown  states  that,  apparently 
after  the  constitution  had  been  accepted,  the  members 
were  asked  to  si<rn  a  document  bindinir  themselves  to  the 


1 


(Juoted  by  Lockwood,  op.  cit.,  pp.  194,  195. 
'  Twelve  months  in  Nciu  Harmony,     Cincinnati,  1827, 


NEW    HARMONY  317 

ultimate  purchase  of  the  estate  as  hereafter  to  be  appraised, 
and  that  there  was  much  dissatisfaction  thereat.  Ulti- 
mately, Brown  tells  us,  Owen  selected  twenty-five  men 
who  were  willing  to  take  upon  themselves  the  respon- 
sibility of  signing  a  contract  with  himself  and  Maclure. 
These  twenty-five  were  to  co-opt  others  who  should 
share  the  responsibility  with  them  ;  besides  these  full 
members  there  were  to  be  the  conditional  and  probationary 
members. 

Owen,  according  to  Brown,  was  constantly  inculcating 
on  the  people  the  necessity  of  thrift,  "  and  knacks  of 
saving  and  gaining  money.  Yet  persons  were  spending 
their  time  in  teaching  music  and  dancing  ;  profusions 
of  musical  instruments  were  provided,  and  great  quantities 
of  candles  burnt  at  their  balls.  It  is  said  he  once  told 
them  in  his  preaching  that  '  they  must  be  good  misers.' 
A  great  part  of  the  time  the  people  were  very  much 
stinted  in  their  allowance  of  coffee  and  tea,  butter,  milk, 
&c.  Mr.  Owen,  constantly  boarding  at  the  tavern, 
where  luxurious  regale  was  copiously  provided  to  sell 
to  travelling  men  of  the  world  and  to  loungers,  drank 
rich  coffee  and  tea."  ^ 

Another  subject  of  Brown's  criticism  was  the  minute 
and  complicated  system  of  accounts.  Accounts  were  kept, 
he  tells  us,  of  every  pennyworth  that  was  consumed,  and 
every  member  was  credited  with  every  hour's  work  done  ; 
and  a   number  of  intelligent  persons  were   occupied    in 

^  Twelve  months  in  New  Ha7'nw7iy,  p.  25.  In  his  speech  at  Philadelphia 
on  June  27,  1827,  Owen  stated  that  whilst  at  New  Harmony  he  tried  the  ex- 
periment of  having  only  two  meals  a  day — at  7  a.m.  and  5  p.m.,  and  that 
his  "  average  expenses  of  living,  for  about  five  months,  including  eating 
and  drinking,  amounted  to  less  than  six  cents  (3^.)  a  day."  i^New 
Harmony  Gazette,  Vol.  II.,  p  347.) 


31  g  ROBERT   OWEN 

the  "sterile  and  tasteless  drudgery"  of  keeping  these 
accounts,  who  might  otherwise  have  been  employed  on 
useful  and  productive  labour. 

Brown's  criticism  here  is  obviously  wide  of  the 
mark  ;  for  nothing  could  be  more  important  in  a  new 
experiment  of  this  kind  than  to  keep  the  most  minute 
and  accurate  account  practicable  of  every  item  of  ex- 
penditure, and  of  the  disposal  of  every  member's  time. 
His  remark,  however,  that  *' the  children  ran  mad,  in 
point  of  morals,  from  having  heard  the  doctrine  of  no 
praise  or  bhuiie,  no  reward  or  punishment,  which  went 
under  the  name  of  the  new  system,"  derives  some  con- 
firmation from  the  account  by  Robert  Dale  Owen  of  the 
unruliness  and  want  of  discipline  amongst  the  elder  boys 
in  the  school.  We  shall  see  later  that  the  same  difficulties 
were  encountered  at  Orbiston. 

But  taken  as  a  whole  Brown's  strictures  are  unintelli- 
gent, and  instructive  only  so  far  as  they  serve  to  show 
the  spirit  which  prevailed  amongst  some  ot  the  baser- 
minded  members  of  the  little  Community.  Unfortu- 
nately, however,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  there  were 
differences  of  view — not  always  perhaps  acute — amongst 
the  colonists  ;  and  that  the  new  constitution  did  not  for 
long  work  smoothly.  In  the  course  of  the  next  twelve 
months  there  were  several  changes  of  constitution  in  the 
parent  Community.  Paul  Brown  describes  two  or  three, 
and  the  editors  of  the  Gazette  hint  at  yet  others  ;  ^  and 
several  daughter  Communities  were  formed.  Finally,  in 
an   editorial   in   the   Gazette  o^  March   28,    1827,  written 

'  A.  J.  Macdonald,  quoted  by  Noyes  {op.  at.,  pp.  35-40),  enumerates 
seven  .successive  constitutions  for  the  parent  Community.  In  this  total 
arc  inchidcd  the  Preliminary  Society  and  the  constitution  of  February  5, 
1826. 


NEW   HARMONY 


319 


by  Robert  Dale  Owen  and  his  brother  William,^  we  have 
an  authoritative  account  of  the  state  of  affairs.  The 
article  is  practically  a  confession  that  the  great  enterprise 
has  failed  for  the  time.  "  The  experiment  to  ascertain 
whether  a  mixed  and  unassorted  population  could  success- 
fully govern  their  own  affairs  as  a  Community  was  a  bold 
and  a  hazardous  and,  as  we  think,  a  premature  one. 

"  Our  own  opinion  is  that  Robert  Owen  ascribed  too 
little  influence  to  the  early  anti-social  circumstances  that 
had  surrounded  many  of  the  quickly  collected  inhabitants 
of  New  Harmony  before  their  arrival  there,  and  too 
much  to  those  circumstances  which  his  experience  might 
enable  them  to  create  round  themselves  in  future." 
One  form  of  government,  they  proceed,  was  tried  after 
another,  "  until  it  appeared  that  the  whole  population, 
numerous  as  they  were,  were  too  various  in  their  feelings 
and  too  dissimilar  in  their  habits  to  unite  and  govern 
themselves  harmoniously  in  one  Community."  They 
split  therefore  into  three.  Then  two  of  these  again 
united,  and  asked  Owen  with  four  other  trustees  to  take 
charge  of  their  affairs.  Shortly,  however,  the  trustees 
found  that  the  reunited  Society  consumed  more  than  it 
produced.  "  The  deficiency  of  production  appeared  im- 
mediately attributable  in  part  to  carelessness  in  many 
members  as  regarded  Community  property  ;  in  part  to 
their  want  of  interest  in  the  experiment  itself — the  only 
true  incitement  to  Community  industry  ;  and  these  again 
were  to  be  traced  to  a  want  of  confidence  in  each  other, 
not  perhaps  unfounded,  and  which  was  increased  by  the 
unequal  industry  and  by  the  discordant  variety  of  habits 
which  existed  among  them."  So  the  parent  Community 
1  Threading  my  Way,  p.  257.   The  editorial  is  anonymous. 


320 


ROBERT   OWEN 


was  finally  subdivided  into  independent  occupations — 
each  occupation  managing  its  own  affairs  and  making  a 
small  weekly  contribution  to  the  general  expenses  of  the 
town.  "  New  Harmony,  therefore,"  the  editors  continue, 
''  is  not  now  a  Conmuinity  but,  as  was  originally  intended, 
a  central  village  out  of  and  around  which  Communities 
have  forined  and  may  continue  to  form  themselves." 
Eor  Owen  offl'red  land  and  pecuniary  assistance  to  any 
who  wished  to  form  a  community  on  the  estate.  At 
this  time  (March,  1827)  there  w^re,  including  the 
Education  Society,  four  such  daughter  Communities,  of 
which  one,  Feiba  Peveli,  had  been  in  existence  for  about 
a  year.  Macluria  had  also  flourished  for  a  year,  but  had 
apparently  dissolved  itself.  The  Education  Society,  how- 
L\'cr,  under  the  direction  of  William  Maclure  himself, 
still  flourished,  though  the  Indiana  Legislature  had 
recently  rejected  by  a  large  majority  a  Bill  for  its 
incorporation.^ 

At  the  time  that  the  parent  Community  was  dissolved, 
as  we  learn  from  an  address  by  Robert  Owen  delivered 
on  May  6,  all  those  persons  who  did  not  at  once  join 
one  of  the  daughter  Communities  were  warned  that  they 
must  henceforth  either  support  themselves  by  their  own 
industry,  or  leave  New  Harmony.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, Owen  adds,  "  many  families  left  New  Harmony, 
with  their  feelings  more  or  less  hurt,"  a  statement  which 

'  Seiu  Ilarmnny  Gazette,  Vol.  II.,  p.  158.  Macliire's  advertisement  for 
i'lipils  appears  later  in  this  year  in  the  Gazette.  He  desires  a  few 
pupils,  not  under  twelve,  to  be  bound  until  tliey  come  of  age.  The  boy^^ 
would  1)6  emj)loyed  in  school  five  hours  a  day,  and  seven  hours  on  farm, 
Rardf-n,  or  in  the  workshops.  The  girls  would  be  taught  "  housework, 
iK.rdlcwork,  and  suc!i  other  useful  knowledge  as  is  suitable  for  their 
.->c.\." 


NEW   HARMONY  321 

is  full  of  illumination  for  those  who  desire  to  know  why 
New  Harmony  failed.  But  now,  Owen  adds,  the  exodus 
is  happily  over.  "  The  Social  System  is  now  firmly 
established  ;  its  principles  are  daily  becoming  better 
understood,"  and  there  are  already  eight  daughter  Com- 
munities, exclusive  of  the  Education  Society,  and  more 
are  projected.  Owen  feels  an  inexpressible  delight  in 
looking  back  upon  the  obstacles  which  have  been 
overcome,  and  "  in  viewing  the  cheering  prospects  which 
are  before  us.  The  latter,  although  not  exactly  in  the 
way  I  expected,  far  exceed  the  most  sanguine  antici- 
pations I  formed  at  the  commencement  of  the  experiments 
here,  and  induce  a  belief  that  nothing  can  prevent  the 
rapid  spread  of  the  Social  System  over  the  United 
States."^  Just  three  weeks  later,  on  May  27,  1827, 
Owen  delivered  a  valedictory  address  to  the  ten  Social 
Colonies  of  Equality  and  Common  Property  forming  on 
the  New  Harmony  Estate — they  have  grown,  it  will  be 
seen,  in  two  months  from  four  to  ten. 

In  this  address  Owen  explains  that  he  would  like  to 
undertake  the  work  of  feeding,  clothing  and  educating 
the  children  in  the  Community  Schools  without  cost  to 
the  colonists  ;  but  he  had  already  expended  so  much 
money  on  the  scheme  that  he  is  doubtful  if  he  will 
be  able  to  defray  the  entire  cost.  He  had  left,  however, 
3,000  dollars  for  the  purpose.  On  June  i,  Owen  left 
New  Harmony  :  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  the  same 
■month  he  delivered  an  address  at  Philadelphia,  and  reached 
England  on  July  24,    1827. 

After  his  departure  the  New  Harmony  Gazette  is 
silent  as   to  the  progress  of  the    ten   Communities,  the 

*  New  Harmony  Gazette,  Vol.  II.,  p.  255. 
VOL.    I.  21 


322  ROBERT   OWEN 

last  item  being  a  brief  notice  of  a  harvest  festival  at 
Feiba  Peveli  on  July  28,  1827,  at  which  upwards  of 
fifty  persons  sat  down  to  an  excellent  supper/  The 
editor  indeed  seems  intentionally  to  shun  all  reference  to 
domestic  concerns.  We  arc  told,  however,  that  a  Thespian 
Society  had  been  formed  at  New  Harmony,  and  gave 
their  first  dramatic  performance — the  Poor  Gentleman  and 
Fortune's  Frolic — on  February  23,  1828.  The  perform- 
ance gave  general  satisfaction  ;  and  on  the  twenty-third 
of  the  following  month  two  other  comedies  were  pro- 
duced." 

In  the  late  autumn  of  1827  Robert  Owen  returned 
to  America,  and  delivered  lectures  in  various  cities  through- 
out the  Eastern  States.  On  Sunday,  April  13,  1828,  we 
find  him  again  addressing  a  public  meeting  of  the  inhabitants 
of  New  Harmony.  The  state  of  things  which  he  found 
on  his  return  had  convinced  even  his  optimism  that  the 
great  social  experiment  had  so  far  failed.  He  briefly 
recapitulates  the  history  of  the  enterprise,  and  then 
characteristically  proceeds  to  reconstruct  a  new  edifice 
from   the  ruins  of  the  old  : 

"  I  came  here  with  a  determination  to  try  what  could 
be  effected  in  this  new  country  to  relieve  my  fellow-men 
from  superstition  and  mental  degradation,  so  that  if 
successful  the  experiment  might  be  an  example  which 
all   might  follow  and  by  which   all  might  benefit. 

''  1  tried  here  a  new  course  for  which  I  was  induced 
to  hope  that  fifty  years  of  political  liberty  had  prepared 
the  American  population — that  Ts,  to  govern  themselves 
advantageously.       I    supplied    land,    houses   and    the    use 

'    A'ew  Harviony  Gazette,  Vol.  il.,  p.  342. 
»  Ibid.,  Vol.   III.,   pp.    142,   150,   190. 


NEW   HARMONY  323 

of  much  capital  .  .  .  but  experience  proved  that  the 
attempt  was  premature  to  unite  a  number  of  strangers 
not  previously  educated  for  the  purpose,  who  should 
carry  on  extensive  operations  for  their  common  interest, 
and  live  together  as  a  common  family.  I  afterwards 
tried,  before  my  last  departure  hence,  what  could  be 
done  by  those  who  associated  through  their  own  choice 
and  in  small  numbers  ;  to  these  I  gave  leases  of  large 
tracts  of  good  land  for  ten  thousand  years  upon  a 
nominal  rent,  and  for  moral  conditions  only  .  .  .  now 
upon  my  return  I  find  that  the  habits  of  the  individual 
system  were  so  powerful  that  these  leases  have  been, 
with  a  few  exceptions,  applied  for  individual  purposes 
and  individual  gain,  and  in  consequence  they  must  return 
again  into  my  hands. 

"  This  last  experiment  has  made  it  evident  that 
families  trained  in  the  individual  system,  founded  as  it 
is  upon  superstition,  have  not  acquired  those  moral 
qualities  of  forbearance  and  charity  for  each  other  which 
are  necessary  to  promote  full  confidence  and  harmony 
among  all  the  members,  and  without  which  Communities 
cannot  exist." 

He  then  proceeded  to  refer  to  various  breaches  of 
the  engagements  entered  into  with  him,  and  to  conduct 
on  the  part  of  certain  persons  at  variance  with  the 
principles  of  the  Social  System,  especially  the  establish- 
ment of  monopolies,  and  the  carrying  on  of  "  petty 
stores  and  whiskey  shops  "  on  the  competition  system. 

"  My  intention,"  he .  proceeds,  "  now  is  to  form 
such  arrangements  on  the  estate  of  Harmony  as  will 
enable  those  who  desire  to  promote  the  practice  of 
the   Social  System    to    live    in    separate   families    on    the 


324 


ROBERT   OWEN 


individual  system,  and  yet  to  unite  their  general  labour, 
or  to  exchange  labour  for  labour  on  the  most  beneficial 
terms  for  all,  or  to  do  both  or  neither  as  their  feelings 
and  apparent  interests  may  influence  them.  While  other 
arrangements  shall  be  formed  to  enable  them  to  have 
their  children  trained  from  infancy  in  a  knowledge  of 
the  principles  of  human  nature  and  of  the  laws  which 
govern   it.   .    .   . 

"  By  these  measures  I  hope  there  will  be  brought 
around  us  by  degrees  an  honest  and  industrious  and 
also  a  well-educated  population,  with  right  feelings  and 
views,  who  will  earnestly  endeavour  to  promote  the 
happiness  of  each  other,  and  unite  in  bringing  up  their 
children  as  one  family  with  simple  manners,  temperate 
habits  and  useful  knowledge,  both  in  principle  and 
practice."  ^ 

On  Sunday,  June  22,  1828,  Robert  Owen  met  the 
inhabitants  of  New  Harmony  to  bid  them  farewell, 
and  on   the   following  Friday  he  left  the  Colony.'^ 

*  New  Har^nony  Gazette^  Vol.  III.,  pp.  204,  205. 
»  Ibid.,  p.  287. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

THE    END    OF  NEW   HARMONY 

AFTER  Owen's  departure  in  June,  1 828,  we  hear  little 
more  of  the  colony  at  New  Harmony.  The 
ISlew  Harmony  Gazette  still  continued,  indeed,  under 
that  name  until  October  of  that  year,  when  it  changed 
its  title  for  The  New  Harmony  and  Nashoba  Gazette  or 
Free  Inquirer.  The  new  periodical  was  edited,  as  its 
predecessor  had  been  for  some  twelve  months,  by  R.  Dale 
Owen  and  Frances  Wright.  The  little  Community  soon 
lapsed  into  complete  individualism,  Owen  and  Maclure, 
the  two  landlords,  selling  or  leasing  in  small  lots  such 
of  the  property  as  they  did  not  retain  in  their  own 
hands.^  One  of  the  daughter  Communities,  however, 
No.  3  (?  Feiba  Peveli),  is  reported  to  have  continued  as 
a  Community  under  the  terms  of  the  original  lease  for 
some  years.  But  eventually  that  too  was  dissolved  and 
some  of  the  property  bought  by  two  of  the  members  for 
their  private  occupation." 

1  A.  J.  Macdonald,  quoted  by  Noyes,  History  of  American  Socialisms, 

pp.  41.  42. 

'  Dr.  Schuach,  quoted  by  Lockwood,  The  New  Harmony  Communities, 
p.  215.  From  a  private  letter  written  by  Richard  Owen  in  December, 
1880  (a  copy  of  which  has  been  lent  me  by  Professor  Earl  Barnes),  I  gather 
that  the  freehold  of  the  land  on  which  the  Community  stood  was  given  by 
Owen  to  his  son  Richard  ;  and  that  on  the  expiration  of  the  lease,  the 
Community  having,  it  would  seem,  previously  dissolved,  Richard  Owen 
sold  part  of  the  land  to  two  of  the  members,  retaining  part  for  his  own  use. 

325 


326  ROBERT    OWEN 

The  whole  enterprise,  culminating  in  the  change  to 
private  ownership,  entailed  heavy  loss  to  Owen.  The 
exact  nature  of  the  financial  transactions  in  connection 
with  the  original  purchase  of  the  site  and  buildings 
and  the  subsequent  conduct  of  the  enterprise — which 
was  probably  at  no  period  self-supporting — remains 
obscure.  From  Owen's  Philadelphia  address  ^  we  learn 
that  the  sum  p^aid  for  the  real  estate  amounted  to  near 
100,000  dollars,-  and  for  the  personal  property  40,000 
more — say  /^2 8,000  in  all.  It  was  the  original  intention 
that  Maclure  should  contribute  a  like  amount.  It  does 
not  appear  that  he  actually  did  so  ;  but  he  certainly 
advanced  large  sums.  Unfortunately  the  pecuniary 
arrangements  between  him  and  Owen  were  not  apparently 
placed  upon  a  sound  business  footing  ;  and  subsequent 
misunderstandings  on  Maclure's  part  led  to  a  serious 
rupture.  On  April  30,  1827,  Maclure  issued  an 
advertisement  warning  all  concerned  that  he  would 
not  be  responsible  for  any  debt  contracted  by  Owen  in 
their  joint  names,  and  subsequently  commenced  legal 
proceedings  against  Owen  to  recover  money  alleged  to 
be  due.  Eventually,  however,  the  matter  at  issue  was 
referred  to  arbitrators,  from  whose  award  it  appears  that 
it  was  Maclure  who  was  indebted  to  Owen,  to  the 
amount   of  5,000   dollars."* 

In    the   winding    up  in  1827    and    1828    of  the  com- 

'  New  Ilafrnony  Gazette,  Vol.  II.,  p.  353.  The  address  was  delivered 
on  June  27,  1827. 

'  Actually  ninety-five  thousand,  as  shown  above,  p.  289  (footnote). 

'  The  only  account  which  we  have  of  these  transactions  is  Owen's 
own,  given  after  the  Philadelphia  address  referred  to.  Hut  a  full  report 
appeared  subsequently  in  the  New  Harmony  Gazette,  and  as  Maclure  still 
continued  to  reside  at  New  Harmony  it  may  perhajis  be  presumed  that  if 
not  substantially  accurate  it  would  have  been  contradicted. 


THE  NEV/  YORK 
PVpUC  LIBHARY 


A.SI(()H,.LEN.^X.  Abi:D 


THE   END   OF   NEW   HARMONY        327 

munity  affairs,  Owen  lost  a  large  amount  of  property 
through  unscrupulous  speculators,  who  took  advantage 
of  his  simplicity  and  generosity.  In  particular,  it  is  told 
of  a  man  called  Taylor,  who  was  for  some  time  in 
partnership  with  William  Owen  and  Fauntleroy,  that 
on  the  dissolution  of  the  partnership  he  agreed  to  pur- 
chase from  Robert  Owen  a  large  tract  of  land,  with  all  that 
was  on  it,  and  that  on  the  night  before  the  agreement 
was  actually  signed  he  caused  a  large  quantity  of  cattle 
and  farming  implements  to  be  put  upon  the  land,  and 
so  came  into  possession  of  them.  Having  got  the  land 
he  built  a  distillery  upon  it.^ 

Owen  reserved  some  part  of  the  land  for  himself  and 
eventually  made  it  over  to  one  of  his  sons.  His  own 
loss  over  the  whole  experiment  from  the  beginning 
amounted  to  over  ^40,000 — more  than  four-fifths  of  his 
entire  available  capital  at  that  time.^ 

Owen  left  not  only  his  fortune  but  his  family 
behind  him  in  Indiana.  His  four  sons — for  the  two 
younger  sons,  Richard  and  David  Dale  Owen  had 
come  over  in  1828 — remained  in  New  Harmony  as 
citizens  of  the  United  States,^  and  ultimately  won 
distinction  in  various  fields.  Robert  Dale,  as  already 
said,  continued  to  edit  the   New   Harmony   Gazette    and 

1  Macdonald,  quoted  by  Noyes,  op.  cit.,  p.  48.  See  also  Threading 
my  Way,  p.  258.  The  dissolution  of  partnership  with  William  Owen 
and  the  cancelling  of  all  agreements  with  Robert  Owen  is  advertised  in 
the  New  Harmony  Gazette  of  October  i,  1828,  p.  392. 

'  Threading  my  Way,  p.  261. 

3  In  the  Manchester  Correspondence  there  is  a  Court  Copy,  with 
the  official  seal,  of  a  declaration  made  by  Robert  Owen  at  a  Circuit 
Court  held  at  Palestine,  State  of  Illinois,  on  May  9,  1825,  in  which 
he  announced  his  intention  of  becoming  a  citizen  of  the  United  States. 
But  the  intention  does  not  seem  to  have  been  fulfilled. 


328  ROBERT   OWEN 

afterwards  the  Free  Inquirer,  in  conjunction  with   Frances 
Wri<T:ht.      He    returned   to    England   for   a    time  in   the 
early  thirties  :   the  first  volume  of  the  Crisis  (1832)  bears 
on   the  title  page  the   legend   "Edited  by   Robert  Owen 
and  Robert  Dale   Owen."      About   this  time  also  Robert 
Dale     Owen     published    a    pamphlet,    Moral    'Physiology, 
in  which  he  advocated   the   use  of  checks  on   conception. 
But  his  later  life  was  spent   as  a   citizen  of  the  United 
States.      In    1835   he  became   a    Member   of  the   Indiana 
State   Legislature,   and   in     1843    ^^    ^^^"^    elected   to    the 
Congress    of    the     United     States.       As    a     Member    of 
Congress  he  intoduced  the  Bill  providing  for  the  founding 
of  the    Smithsonian  Institution  ;    the  plan  of  the  actual 
building  is   also   said   to   have   been   due  to   him  and  his 
brother  David   Dale.      He  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Indiana  Constitutional   Convention   in    1850  and   proved 
"  beyond     all     comparison     the     most     laborious,    fertile 
and   efficient   member  of  that   body.     The    law    reforms 
and   the   provisions  for  woman's  rights  and   free  schools 
were    especially    his   work,   and   leave    upon    our  Statute 
books    the   ineffaceable  mark  of  his  father's   inculcation, 
modified     and     strengthened     by     his     own     talent     and 
observation."     In  effect,  the  constitution  which  he  helped 
to    frame    provided    for    a    uniform    system    of  common 
schools,    free    to    all,    throughout    the    State.      He     later 
succeeded    in   passing   State   laws  giving   married   women 
control    of   their    property,     and    providing    for    greater 
freedom   in   divorce.     In    1853    he    was    appointed    U.S. 
Minister  at   Naples.      Whilst  there   he  became  converted 
to    Spiritualism,    and     his    two     books.     Footfalls    on    the 
H^jundiny  of  another  IVorU^  and   The  Debateable  land  be- 
I'jcecn  this  IVorld  and  the  Next,  remain  two  of  the  best 


THE   END   OF   NEW   HARMONY        329 

books  ever  written  on  the  subject.  That  pernicious 
heresy  never  found  a  nobler  or  more  persuasive  advocate. 
His  Autobiography^  pubhshed  in  1874,  is  marked  by 
the  same  winning  candour  and  simplicity.  He  died  on 
June  24,  1877,  his  last  days  being  unhappily  clouded 
by  slight  mental  derangement,  brought  on,  it  is  said, 
by  the  shock  of  the  exposure  of  a  medium  in  whom 
he  had  placed  full  confidence. 

The  second  brother,  William,  settled  down  at  New 
Harmony,  marrying  there  in  1837.  He  died  in  1841  or 
1842.  The  two  younger  sons,  David  Dale  Owen  and 
Richard  Owen  were  at  Fellenberg's  School  throughout 
the  whole  period  of  the  Community  experiment,  and 
only  arrived  at  New  Harmony  in  January,  1828.  David 
Dale  Owen  afterwards  returned  to  Europe  to  pursue  his 
scientific  studies.  In  1839  he  was  appointed  United 
States  Geologist  and  instructed  to  make  a  survey  of  the 
North-West,  including  what  is  now  Minnesota,  Wisconsin, 
Iowa,  etc.  The  headquarters  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey  continued  at  New  Harmony  until 
1856,  when  they  were  transferred  to  the  Smithsonian 
Institution.  David  Owen  continued  his  work  at  geology 
until  his  death  in   1860.-^ 

The  youngest  son,  Richard  Owen,  on  his  arrival  at 
New  Harmony  in  his  eighteenth  year,  found  employment 
in  teaching  in  the  schools.  Later  for  some  years  he 
cultivated  the  land  left  him  by  his  father,  and  ran  a  steam 
flourmill.  In  1848  he  assisted  his  brother  David  in  the 
geological  survey  referred  to.  Subsequently  he  became  a 
Professor  of  Natural  Science  in  the  Nashville  University. 

'  I  take  these  particulars  mostly  from  Lockwood's  book,    The  New 
Harmony  Communities,  pp.  260-7. 


330 


ROBERT   OWEN 


On  the  death  of  David  in  i860  he  succeeded  him  as 
State  Geologist.  In  the  following  year  he  accepted  the 
lieutenant-colonelcy  of  the  15th  Indiana  Volunteers,  and 
for  the  next  two  or  three  years  was  actively  engaged  in 
the  war.  In  the  spring  of  1862  he  and  his  regiment 
were  taken  prisoners,  and  the  Confederate  general  took 
the  opportunity  of  publicly  thanking  Owen  for  his  kind- 
ness to  some  four  thousand  Southern  prisoners  who  had 
been  placed  in  his  charge  the  previous  winter.  After  the 
war  the  remainder  of  Richard  Owen's  life  was  given  to 
his  scientific  pursuits.  He  published  numerous  reports 
and  monographs,  chiefly  on  geological  subjects,  terrestrial 
magnetism,  etc.,  and  also  a  few  addresses  on  education 
and  ethical  questions.  He  died  at  New  Harmony  on 
March  24,  1890,  in  his  eighty-first  year.^ 

After  the  death  of  her  mother  and  sisters,  Owen's  only 
surviving  daughter,  Jane,  married  Fauntleroy,  one  of 
the  men  at  one  time  associated  in  partnership  with  Owen, 
and  settled   at   New  Harmony. 

William  Maclure  remained  at  New  Harmony  for  a 
short  time  after  the  collapse  of  the  Community  experi- 
ment, and  continued  to  carry  on  the  schools  ;  and  when 
his  health  compelled  him  to  leave  New  Harmony,  he  did 
not  sever  his  connection  with  the  place.  In  1828  he 
started  a  periodical  called  the  Disseminator^  *'  containing 
hints  to  the  youth  of  the  United  States  ;  edited,  printed, 
and  published  by  the  pupils  of  the  School  of  Industry."  ^ 
In  1 83 1  he  brought  out  a  bulky  octavo  volume  of 
"Opinions  on  various  subjects,  dedicated  to  the  In- 
dustrious Producers."      The   book  was  published  at  New 

'  From  a  Memoir  in  the  American  Geologist  for  September,  1890. 
'  Lockwood,  p.  252. 


THE   END    OF   NEW   HARMONY        331 

Harmony  and  printed  at  the  School  Press,  and  the  print- 
ing is  by  no  means  badly  done.^  Shortly  before  his  death 
he  conveyed  a  sufficient  sum  of  money  to  found  the 
Working  Men's  Institute  and  Public  Library  at  New 
Harmony,  which  still  stands  as  a  monument  to  his 
memory. 

Thomas  Say  also  remained  on  in  New  Harmony, 
acting  as  Maclure's  agent  and  assistant.  As  already 
stated,  he  there  produced  his  treatises  on  American  ento- 
mology and  conchology.  The  latter  book  was  actually 
printed  at  New  Harmony. 

Thus,  though  Owen's  great  experiment  failed,  a  quite 
unlooked-for    success   in   another  direction  rewarded   his 
efforts.       New    Harmony    remained    for    more    than     a   ^ 
generation  the  chief  scientific  and  educational   centre   in  -^ 
the   West  ;    and   the   influences  which   radiated   from   it  ~ 
have    made   themselves   felt    in    many   directions    in    the  ^ 
social  and   political   structure   of  the  country.     Even  to  ^- 
this  day  the  impress  of  Robert  Owen  is  clearly  marked-^ 
upon   the   town   which   he  founded.     New  Harmony   is- 
not  as  other  towns  of  the  Western  States.     It  is  a  town 
with   a  history.     The   dust   of  those  broken   hopes  and  -. 
ideals  forms  the  soil  in  which  the   life  of  the  present  is 
rooted.     The   name  of  Owen  is  still  borne  in  the  town 
by  several  prominent   citizens,   descendants  of  the  great 
Socialist.     The   town   is   proud    in    the   possession  of   a 
public  library — the  librarian  himself  a  grandson  of  one 
of    the    original     colonists — of    some    fifteen    thousand 
volumes,  many  of  them  scarce  and  valuable  works. 

New  Harmony  and  its  daughter  Communities  were 
by  no  means  the  only  experiments  in  practical  Socialism 

^  There  is  a  copy  in  the  British  Museum. 


332  ROBERT   OWEN 

at  this  period.  We  have  already  seen  that  there  existed 
in  New  York  some  years  before  Owen's  visit  in  the 
autumn  of  1824  a  Society  for  founding  Communities. 
Owen's  New  View  of  Society  had  no  doubt  attracted 
attention  in  America  long  before  his  advent.  Moreover 
there  were  examples  in  the  Shaker  Communities,  and  in 
Harmony  itself,  to  prove  the  practicability  of  association 
on  the  principles  of  common  property  and  equality. 
The  lectures  delivered  by  Owen,  therefore,  at  his  several 
visits  in  the  large  towns,  found  a  ready  hearing  ;  and 
several  attempts  were  made  in  the  years  1825-8  to 
carry  out  his  views  in  practice.  The  colony  of  Nashoba 
was  apparently  in  contemplation  even  before  Owen's  visit 
in  1824.  PVanccs  Wright,  its  founder,  had  the  cause  of 
negro  emancipation  much  at  heart,  and  her  experiment 
was  designed  to  educate  the  slave  to  live  in  freedom  and 
equality  with  his  white  brother.  She  visited  the  Rappites 
both  at  Harmony  and  Economy,  studied  their  methods,  and 
finally  in  the  autumn  of  1825  purchased  two  thousand 
acres  of  land  in  West  Tennessee,  and  purchased  also 
several  families  of  slaves,  whom  she  settled  on  the  land, 
there  to  work  out  their  freedom.  Her  own  illness 
hampered  the  progress  of  the  scheme,  and  ultimately  in 
December,  1S26,  she  made  over  the  estate  to  a  body  of 
trustees,  amongst  whom  were  Lafayette,  Robert  Owen,  W. 
Maclure,  Robert  Dale  Owen  and  George  Flower,  to  hold 
in  perpetual  trust  for  the  negro  race.  The  experiment 
lasted  for  some  years.  It  failed  ultimately  from  much 
the  same  causes  as  brought  failure  on  New  Harmony.^ 
One  of  the  most   notable   of  the  experiments   which 

'  Noygs,  pp.  66-72.     New  Harmony  Gazette,  Vol.  II.,  p.  164;  Vol.  III., 
pp.  124,  132,  172,  etc. 


THE   END    OF    NEW    HARMONY        233 

owed  its  inspiration  directly  to  Owen  was  the  Community 
of  Yellow  Springs,  Ohio.  On  his  way  to  purchase 
Harmony,  Owen  delivered  a  lecture  on  the  new  system 
in  Cincinnati  and  created  a  profound  impression.  Amongst 
those  who  were  most  affected  was  a  Swedenborgian 
minister  named  Roe  ;  and  he  with  members  of  his 
congregation  and  others  soon  organised  a  Community 
and  purchased  800  acres  of  land,  for  8,000  dollars.  The 
Community  started  in  July,  1825.  In  September  we 
read  that  nearly  100  hands  were  already  at  work  ;  the 
number  was  to  be  limited  to  2,000.  The  members  ex- 
pected soon  to  have  trades  of  all  kinds  and  factories  at 
work.  In  fact  the  Community  is  said  to  have  lasted 
for  a  few  months  only.^ 

Other  Communities  were  started  in  the  course  of 
these  four  years,  1825-8,  at  Franklin,  New  York  ;^  Kendal, 
Ohio  ;  ^  Forrest- ville,  Indiana  ;  *  Coxsackie,  New  York  ;  ^ 
Haverstraw,  New  York  ;  Blue  Spring,  Indiana.  We  hear 
also  of  a  '*  Community  of  United  Germans  "  at  Teutonia, 
Ohio.  But  this,  though  a  democratic  Community  re- 
cognizing the  principle  of  common  property,  had  a 
religious  basis.^ 

By  1828  it  is  probable  that  all  these  Communities 
had    come    to   an    end.     But    Owen's    teaching,  and  the 

^  Noyes,  pp.  59-65.  New  Harmony  Gazette,  Vol.  I.,  p.  71.  Noyes's 
authority  is  a  newspaper  extract,  without  title  or  date,  found  amongst 
Macdonald's  papers.  But  some  particulars  of  the  Community  are  given 
in  the  New  Harmony  Gazette. 

^  New  Har7nony  Gazette,  Vol.  I.,  p.  287. 

3  Id.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  349  ;  Vol.  II.,  p.  81  ;  Vol.  III.,  p.  141. 

*  Id.,  Vol.  III.,  pp.  34,  141. 

*  Id.,  Vol.  III.,  p.  141.  Haverstraw  and  Blue  Spring,  so  far  as  I  can 
find,  are  not  mentioned  in  the  Gazette ;  but  some  account  of  them  is 
given  in  Macdonald's  MSS.  quoted  by  Noyes. 

6  New  Harmony  Gazette,  Vol.  III.,  p.  81. 


334 


ROBERT   OWEN 


demonstration  of  his  principles  and  his  ideals  afforded 
by  the  New  Harmony  experiment,  had  an  influence 
of  a  more  permanent  character.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  Eouricrite  enthusiasm  of  1840-50  onwards,  which 
produced  Brook  l^'arm  and  iiinunicrable  *'  Phalanxes," 
owed  much  to  Owen.  They  reaped  a  harvest  of  which 
he  had  sown  the  seed.  The  later  experiments  were, 
indeed,  in  many  instances  far  more  longlived  than  any 
Communities  of  the  Owenite  period.  Brook  Farm  lasted 
for  five  years,  the  Wisconsin  Phalanx  for  six,  the  North 
American  Phalanx  for  twelve  ;  and  several  minor 
Fourierite  Communities  had  an  existence  of  two  or 
three  years.  The  secret  of  their  relative  success  reveals 
one  of  the  main  causes  of  the  failure  of  New  Harmony 
and  the  other  experiments  of  the  earlier  period.  All 
the  Owenite  Communities,  as  we  have  seen,  were 
theoretically  conducted  on  the  principle  of  absolute 
equality  and  community  of  property.  No  man  was  to 
be  esteemed  before  or  after  another  ;  and  no  man's 
labour  was  to  be  rewarded  more  or  less  than  another's. 
All  were  to  work  as  they  could,  and  to  receive  a  like 
share  in  the  common  product.  In  the  Fourierite 
Communities  differences  of  status  and  accommodation 
were  recognised,  liach  member  contributed  a  certain 
sum  to  the  common  stock,  and  paid  for  what  accommo- 
dation he  required.  Further,  each  received  a  reward 
proportionate  to  the  amount  and  value  of  his  labour. 

The  causes  contributing  to  the  failure  of  New 
Harmony  were  many  and  various.  The  first  mistake 
was  made  when  the  general  invitation  was  issued  to 
the  industrious  and  well-disposed  of  all  nations  to  join. 
I'he  new  colony   was   indeed   fortunate  in   that  so  many 


THE    END   OF   NEW   HARMONY        335 

of  those  who  joined  it  did  fairly  answer  to  this  descrip- 
tion. But  there  were  some  sharpers,  some  unsuccessful 
speculators,  many  amiable  visionaries  ;  and  not  a  few, 
apparently,  whose  only  proof  of  fitness  for  the  world 
to  be  was  their  failure  in  the  world  that  is.  Again, 
if  all  the  colonists  had  been  as  industrious  and  as  honest 
as  Owen  himself,  they  were  still  too  heterogeneous  to 
fuse  into  a  Community  of  Equality.  Differences  of 
sect,  race  and  social  rank,  as  we  have  seen,  constantly 
stood  in  the  way.  Once  more,  the  Rappites,  whose 
example  and  guidance  Owen  had  hoped  for  at  the 
starting  of  the  colony,  left  before  it  had  fairly  begun. 
Owen  himself  was  not  on  the  spot  to  direct  affairs 
throughout  the  first  year  ;  and  there  was  no  one  capable 
of  taking  his  place.  But  if  the  colonists  had  been 
judiciously  selected,  and  if  Owen  had  guided  the  enter- 
prise from  the  commencement,  the  inevitable  catastrophe 
would  only  have  come  a  little  later.  Even  the  most 
carefully  organised  of  the  Fourierite  Communities, 
which  did  provide  some  incentive  to  effort,  struggled 
on  for  a  few  years  at  most. 

Under  Owen*s  scheme  there  was  to  be  no  scourge 
for  idleness,  and  no  reward  for  industry  ;  no  outlet 
whatever  for  ambition.  Such  a  system  might  work  in 
a  golden  age,  when  mankind,  finding  all  their  material 
wants  satisfied,  should  have  realised  the  universal  human 
brotherhood,  and  left  themselves  free  to  turn  their 
thoughts  to  the  things  of  the  spirit.  But  in  a  society 
which  had  found  that  the  good  things  of  the  world  are 
not  enough  to  go  round,  and  whose  members  had  been 
trained  each  to  snatch  as  large  a  share  as  he  could,  the 
great  dream  was  too  great.     In  fact,  the  only  Communist 


336  ROBERT   OWEN 

Societies  which  have  attained  any  high  degree  of 
material  prosperity  and  have  retained  it  for  any  length 
of  time,  have  been  precisely  those  which  did  not  look 
for  material  success,  to  wit,  those  whose  members  had 
been  unified  by  a  common  religious  enthusiasm.  They 
have  also  for  the  most  part  consisted  of  persons  of 
the  same  social  rank,  and  the  same  nationality  ;  their 
union  has  generally  been  consolidated  by  emigration, 
which  has  kept  them  strangers  in  a  strange  land  ;  they 
have  most  of  them  been  governed  by  a  religious  oligarchy 
or  monarchy.  And  lastly,  they  have  escaped  their  fair 
share  of  the  world's  burdens  by  an  enforced  celibacy. 

A  member  of  the  Oneida  Community,  one  of  the 
most  successful  communities  which  was  ever  founded 
on  a  professedly  democratic  basis,  and  did  not  adopt 
celibacy,  sums  up  the  case  against  New  Harmony  in 
one  pregnant  sentence.  "There  are  only  two  ways," 
said  he,  ''  of  governing  a  Community  ;  it  must  be  done 
either  by  law  or  by  grace.  Owen  abolished  law,  but  did 
not  establish  grace."  ^ 

Owen  bade  farewell  to  New  Harmony,  as  described 
in  the  preceding  chapter,  at  the  end  of  June,  1828,  and 
returned  to  England  ;  but  only  to  embark  on  a  new 
attempt  at  Community-building.  Owen's  own  account  of 
this  new  venture  is  that  he  was  solicited  by  Rocafuertez, 
the  Mexican  Minister  in  London,  to  apply  to  the 
Mexican  Government  for  the  grant  of  Cohahuila  and 
Texas,  then  a  province  of  the  Mexican  Republic,  to 
form    the    stage    of    a    social    experiment    on    a    colossal 

'  Noyes,  Op.  cit.,  p.  54.  The  constitution  of  Oneida  was  never  really 
democratic  during  the  lifetime  of  Noyes,  its  founder ;  and  though 
not  adopting  celibacy,  the  members  took  measures  to  regulate  the  growth 
of  population. 


THE   END    OF   NEW   HARMONY        337 

scale/  But  from  the  Manchester  Correspondence  it 
would  appear  that  the  idea  was  first  started  in  his  mind 
by  a  letter  ftom  one  Ben.  R.  Milan,  who  wrote  on 
August  30  of  this  year  from  Louisiana,  stating  that 
he  and  General  Wavell  had  received  grants  from  the 
Government  of  Mexico  of  land  in  Texas,  and  were 
prepared  to  offer  valuable  allotments  on  suitable  terms, 
if  Owen  would  care  to  consider  the  proposal.  Owen 
had  thus  it  would  seem  already  made  up  his  mind  to 
colonise  Texas,  before  he  approached  the  Mexican 
Minister,  who  for  his  part  did  his  best  to  discountenance 
the  project,  as  the  following  letter  will  show. 

"  Ivy  Lodge,  Fulham, 

11  th  October,  1828. 
"  My  dear  Sir, 

'*  The  more  I  reflect  upon  your  plan  more 
obstacles  I  meet  in  its  execution,  and  greater  is  my 
apprehension  that  you  will  not  succeed  in  Texas  ;  the 
interest  I  take  in  your  concerns  and  the  value  I  set  on 
your  time  always  applied  to  useful  purposes  stimulates 
me  to  tell  you  my  candid  opinion  on  this  interesting 
subject.  I  am  afraid  you  will  be  completely  disappointed 
in  your  expectations,  and  in  carrying  into  effect  your 
benevolent  scheme  of  moral  reform  in  such  a  country 
as  Texas,  and  if  I  dare  suggest  to  you  the  idea  of 
giving  up  your  trip  to  Mexico  by  the  next  Packet,  I 
would  do  it,  guided  by  a  feeling  of  respect  I  have 
for  you. 

1  London  Investigato7\  Vol.  III.,  p.  232.  Owen  wrote  a  brief  sketch 
of  his  hfe  which  appeared  simultaneously  in  the  Londoji  Investigator 
(a  secularist  journal  edited  by  Robert  Cooper)  and  the  Millennial  Gazette 
during  the  year  1856. 

VOL.     I.  22 


338  ROBERT   OWEN 

*'  I  ha\c  sent  your  memorial  to  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment and  have  recommended  it,  but  I  tear  it  will  not 
meet  the  sanction  of  the  Ministry,  at  all  events  1  think 
it  would  be  more  advisable  to  wait  for  an  answer. 
Hopinu:  vou  will  excuse  my  frankness,  proceeding  from 
the  interest  I  take  in  your  welfare,  I  have  the  honour 
to   be, 

^'  My  dear  Sir, 

''  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

tcYj^^TE   KoCAFUERTEZ." 

Oweti  received  the  letter  in  New  Lanark  and 
replied  to  it  on  October  31,  in  characteristic  fashion — 
''  .  .  .  The  subject  of  your  letter  in  reference  to 
Texas  is  in  unison  with  my  views  from  the  time  it 
was  first  mentioned  to  me.  I  knew  many  formidable 
difficulties  would  present  themselves  as  1  proceeded  in 
the  negotiation,  but  I  have  always  had  the  prejudices 
of  mankind  to  overcome,  and  my  success  has  given 
me  confidence  to  meet  them  openly  and  fairly 
under  every  form  in  which  they  may  arise.  And  the 
republic  of  Mexico  with  the  Governments  south,  north 
and  east,  seem  to  me  at  this  period  to  be  in  a 
state  peculiarly  favourable  to  be  beneficially  acted  upon 
to  an  extent  that  few  unacquainted  with  the  real  state 
of  the  human  mind  in  Europe  and  America  can  readily 
imagine.  The  world  is,  as  it  appears  to  me,  full 
ripe  for  a  great  moral  change,  and  it  may  be,  I  think, 
commenced  the  most  advantageously  in  the  New 
World  ;  the  Mexican  Republic  presents  perhaps  at  the 
moment  the  best  point  at  which  to  begin  new  and 
mighty  operations   .   .   .   ." 


THE   END   OF   NEW   HARMONY 


339 


Towards  the  end  of  November  Owen  set  sail  for 
Vera  Cruz.  The  ship  touched  first  at  San  Domingo, 
and  afterwards  at  Jamaica.  At  Kingston  Owen  renewed 
some  old  friendships,  amongst  others  with  Admiral 
Fleming,  then  in  command  at  the  West  Indies,  and  made 
many  new  ones — for  throughout  his  life  he  had  the 
power  of  attracting  all  men  to  him.  He  took  the 
opportunity  of  studying  the  condition  of  the  slave 
population  in  Jamaica.  This  is  his  account  of  his 
observations  : 

*'  The  slaves  whom  I  saw  in  the  island  of  Jamaica 
are  better  dressed,  more  independent  in  their  look,  person 
and  manner,  and  are  greatly  more  free  from  corroding 
care  and  anxiety  than  a  large  portion  of  the  working- 
classes  in  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland.  What  the 
condition  of  these  slaves  was  in  former  times  I  know  not. 
But  I  request  with  all  the  earnestness  such  a  subject 
demands,  that  our  good  religious  people  in  England  will 
not  attempt  to  disturb  these  slaves  in  the  happiness  and 
independence  which  they  enjoy  in  their  present  condition. 
For  while  they  are  under  humane  masters — and  almost 
all  slave  proprietors  are  now  humane,  for  they  know 
it  to  be  to  their  interest  to  be  so — the  West  Indian 
*  slave  '  as  he  is  called,  is  greatly  more  comfortable  and 
happy  than  the  British  or  Irish  operative  manufacturer 
or  day-labourer.  These  slaves  are  secure  in  sufficiency 
for  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  animal  wants,  and  they 
are,  fortunately  for  themselves,  in  the  present  stage 
of  society  too  ignorant  to  desire  more.  If  their 
present  condition  should  not  be  interfered  with  by 
the  abolitionists  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  religionists 
on  the   other,  these   slaves    cannot  fail    to    be    generally 


340 


ROBERT   OWEN 


the  happiest  members  of  society  for  many  years  to 
come — until  knowledge  can  be  no  longer  kept  from 
them."  ' 

I'he  extract  is  not  more  instructive  on  the  condition 
of  the  slaves  in  pre-abolition  days,  than  on  the  writer's 
views  of  life  and  on  his  patriarchal  attitude  towards  the 
working-classes. 

From  Jamaica  Owen  proceeded  to  Vera  Cruz.  Mexico 
was  at  that  time  in  revolution,  Santa  Anna,  at  the  head 
of  the  army,  having  recently  installed  in  office  a  new 
President,  his  friend  Guerrero.  On  his  way  up  from 
the  coast  Owen  fell  in  with  Santa  Anna  and  the  revolu- 
tionary forces.  He  was  given  safe  conduct,  however, 
after  having  made  an  engagement  with  Santa  Anna  to 
meet  him  on  his  return  journey,  in  order  to  make  to  him 
an  important  communication.  On  his  arrival  in  the  city 
of  Mexico  Owen  called  upon  the  President  of  the 
Republic  and  other  influential  personages.  His  application 
for  the  provinces  of  Texas  and  Cohahuila  could  not,  he 
was  told,  be  complied  with,  but  he  was  promised  full 
jurisdiction  over  a  strip  of  neutral  territory  150  miles 
in  breadth,  which  ran  from  sea  to  sea,  forming  a  barrier 
between  Mexico  and  the  United  States.  The  fulfilment 
of  the  promise  was  made  conditional,  however,  on  the 
Mexican  Congress  passing  an  Act  to  establish  freedom 
of  religious  belief  over  the  Republic.  Later,  Owen  learnt 
that  the  measure  was  thrown  out,  and  his  great  scheme 
accordingly  came  to   nought.- 

'  British  Co-operator  (1830),  pp.  93,  94. 

'  It  must  be  remembered  that  we  have  only  Owen's  own  version  of 
what  took  place  on  the  journey  to  Mexico.  That  he  did  actually  receive 
such  a  promise — even  a  conditional  promise — as  he  states  seems  scarcely 
probable. 


THE   END    OF   NEW    HARMONY        341 

After  a  stay  of  a  few  weeks  only  in  the  interior 
Owen  made  his  way  back  to  the  coast.  On  the  return 
journey,  in  accordance  with  the  arrangement  made,  he 
called  upon  Santa  Anna,  and  proposed  to  discuss  with 
him  the  principles  of  the  New  System.  Santa  Anna,  we 
are  told,  readily  assented,  and  on  Owen's  attending  at 
an  early  hour  on  the  following  morning  he  found  the 
general  and  three  of  his  officers  prepared  to  listen. 
Owen  had  drawn  out  a  summary  of  his  doctrines  in  twelve 
sections,  probably  the  twelve  fundamental  laws  which 
figured  so  prominently  in  the  Cincinnati  debate  as 
described  at  the  end  of  this  chapter.  These  twelve 
sections  he  read  and  expounded  to  his  audience  one  by 
one.  x'^fter  an  animated  discussion  we  learn  that  all  the 
officers  were  converted  to  the  new  views,  and  Santa 
Anna  in  particular  was  so  enthusiastic  that  he  expressed  a 
wish  that  the  principles  could  be  translated  into  Spanish 
and  circulated  throughout  the  Republic.  Further,  he 
promised  to  aid  Owen  at  all  times  to  the  full  extent  of 
his  powers. 

On  reaching  Vera  Cruz  again  Owen  was  met,  in 
accordance  with  a  promise  given  by  Admiral  Fleming, 
by  H.M.S.  Druid  and  H.M.S.  Fairy  and  was  con- 
veyed by  the  latter,  a  ten-gun  brig,  to  New  Orleans, 
whence  he  travelled  to  Cincinnati,  reaching  that  town 
early  in  April,  1829,  in  time  to  fulfil  an  engagement 
made  a  twelvemonth  before.  In  January,  1828,  after 
giving  a  course  of  lectures  in  New  Orleans,  Owen  had 
issued  a  public  challenge  to  the  clergy  of  the  United 
States  inviting  any  of  them  to  meet  him  in  friendly 
discussion. 

The  propositions  which  Owen  had  professed  himself 


J42  ROBERT   OWEN 

ready  to  defend  were  '*  (i)  That  all  the  religions  of  the 
world  have  been  founded  on  the  ignorance  of  mankind  ; 
(2)  that  they  are  directly  opposed  to  the  never-changing 
laws  of  our  nature  ;  (3)  that  they  have  been  and  are  the  real 
cause  of  vice,  dissension  and  misery  of  every  description  ; 
(4)  that  they  are  now  the  only  real  bar  to  the  formation 
of  a  society  of  virtue,  of  intelligence,  of  charity  in  the 
most  extended  sense,  and  of  sincerity  and  kindness 
among  the  whole  human  family  ;  and  (5)  that  they  can 
be  no  longer  maintained  except  through  the  ignorance  of 
the  mass  of  the  people,  and  the  tyranny  of  the  few  over 
the  mass."  ^ 

A  Universalist  minister,  the  Rev.  Alexander  Campbell, 
of  Bethany,  Virginia,  took  up  the  challenge. 

The  discussion  actually  began  on  Monday,  April  13, 
1829,  and  continued  day  by  day,  Sunday  excepted, 
until  the  afternoon  of  Tuesday  the  2ist — eight  days 
in  all.  The  proceedings  began  at  9  a.m.  each  day  and 
lasted  until  noon,  and  were  resumed  at  3  p.m.  each 
afternoon.  Plach  disputant  spoke  alternately  ;  but 
Campbell  on  one  occasion  claimed  to  have  spoken  for 
twelve  consecutive  hours.  The  audience  who  attended 
this  strenuous  entertainment  is  said  to  have  numbered 
about  a  thousand  persons. 

in  October,  1828,  a  letter  from  Owen  had  appeared  in 
the  London  limes,  stating  that  "  the  object  of  the  meeting 
between  the  clergy  and  myself  in  April  next  in  the 
city  of  Cincinnati,  in  the  United  States,  is  not  to 
discuss  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  the  Christian  religion, 
as  stated   in   the  Scotsman^  but  to  ascertain   the  errors  in 

*  Debate  on  the  Evidcfucs  of  Christianity,  etc.,  between  Robert  Owen 
and  Alexander  Campbell,  London,  1839,  p.  30. 


THE   END    OF   NEW    HARMONY        343 

all  religions  which  prevent  them  from  being  efficacious 
in  practice,  and  to  bring  out  all  that  is  really  valuable 
in  each,  leaving  out  their  errors,  and  thus  to  form  from 
them  collectively  a  religion  wholly  true  and  consistent, 
that  it  may  become  universal,  and  be  acted  upon 
consistently  by  all.'* 

No  doubt  in  writing  this  letter  Owen  thought  that 
he  had  correctly  interpreted  Mr.  Campbell's  aims  as  well 
as  his  own,  just  as  he  appears  to  have  thought  that  he 
had  correctly  represented  the  attitude  of  Rocafuertez 
to  the  Mexican  project.  In  fact  Owen  was  at  all  times 
incapable  of  seeing  a  point  of  view  differing  from  his 
own,  or  even  of  conceiving  the  possibility  of  such 
a  different  view,  except  as  the  result  of  ignorance  or 
blindness.  But  naturally  the  matter  did  not  present 
itself  in  the  same  light  to  Mr.  Campbell.  Even  when 
directly  challenged  by  the  latter,  however,  Owen  was 
unable  to  recognise  that  his  letter  to  the  London 
Times  was  not  a  fair  statement  of  his  original  proposal.^ 
With  such  a  beginning,  it  could  hardly  be  expected 
that  the  discussion  should  lead  to  any  common  under- 
standing. Owen's  share  in  the  proceedings  throughout 
the  entire  eight  days  consisted  of  long  expositions 
of  his  system,  the  twelve  fundamental  laws  of  human 
nature,  the  natural  code  of  law  which  should  obtain 
in  a  perfect  society  ;  the  arrangements  for  the  organisa- 
tion and  government  of  such  a  society,  and  so  on. 
The  germs  of  all  the  doctrines  which  he  developed 
later  in  the  'Book  of  the  JVezv  Moral  World^  the  Lectures 
on  Marriage  and  other  works  are  to  be  found  here. 
But  it  will  be  more  convenient  to  consider  them  in  the 
*  Debate  on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity^  pp.  30,  35. 


344  ROBERT    OWEN 

more    systematic    form   in   which    they   were    put    before 
the  world   later  on.^ 

Campbell's  discourse  consisted  in  the  main  of  a  learned 
and  occasionally  eloquent  apology  for  Christianity.  But 
he  took  occasion  to  assail  Owen's  position,  and  to 
point  out  difficulties  and  inconsistencies  in  his  argument. 
Owen  was  uiiapt  at  defence  ;  and  Campbell's  attacks 
remained  for  the  most  part  unanswered. 

An  EngHsh  lady,  Mrs.  Trollope,  who  was  present 
at  the  debate,  gives  an  account  of  the  proceedings,  trom 
which  the  following  extracts  are  taken  : 

''  When  I  recollect  its  object,  and  the  uncompromising 
manner  in  which  the  orator  stated  his  mature  conviction 
that  the  whole  history  of  the  Church  mission  was  a 
fraud,  and  its  sacred  origin  a  fable,  1  cannot  but 
wonder  that  it  was  so  listened  to  ;  yet  at  the  time  I  felt 
no  such  wonder.  Never  did  anyone  practise  the  suaviter 
in  modo  with  more  powerful  effect  than  Mr.  Owen. 
The  gentle  tone  of  his  voice,  his  mild,  sometimes 
playful,  but  never  ironical,  manner,  the  absence  of  every 
vehement  or  harsh  expression,  the  affectionate  interest  ex- 
pressed for  '  the  whole  human  family,'  the  air  of  candour 
with  which  he  expressed  his  wish  to  be  convinced  he  was 
wrong,  if  he  indeed  were  so  ;  his  kind  smile,  the  mild 
expression  of  his  eyes — in  short,  his  whole  manner 
disarmed  zeal,  and  produced  a  degree  of  tolerance  that 
those  who  did  not  hear  him  would  hardly  believe 
possible.    ,    .    . 

'^  From     this    time    Mr.    Owen     entrenched    himself 
behind    his  twelve  laws,   and    Mr.    Campbell,   with   equal 
gravity,  confined  himself  to  bringing  forward   the   most 
'  See  below,  Chapter  XX, 


LIBRARY 


THE   END    OF    NEW    HARMONY        345 

elaborate  theological  authorities  in  evidence  of  the  truth 
of  revealed  religion.  Neither  appeared  to  me  to  answer 
the  other,  but  to  confine  themselves  to  the  utterance  of 
what  they  had  uppermost  in  their  own  minds  when  the 
discussion  began."  ^ 

From  Cincinnati  Owen  went  to  Washington,  where 
he  had  interviews  with  Van  Buren,  the  Secretary  of  State, 
and  with  the  President,  Andrew  Jackson.  Owen  tells  us 
that  he  discussed  fully  with  these  two  gentlemen  the 
causes  of  disagreement  then  existing  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  the  nature  of  the  settlement 
which  they  were  prepared  to  accept,  and  received 
assurances  of  their  sincere  desire  for  friendly  relations 
with  this  country.  He  was  given  letters  to  the  United 
States  Minister  in  England,  to  be  presented  after  an 
interview  with  Lord  Aberdeen. 

On  his  return  to  England,  Owen  at  once  sought 
and  obtained  an  interview  with  Lord  Aberdeen  : — 

"  I  explained  fully  to  him  what  I  had  done  to 
prepare  for  a  cordial  reconciliation  with  the  United 
States,  and  what  I  had  promised  on  the  part  of  our 
Government.  He  promptly  said,  '  Mr.  Owen,  I  highly 
approve  of  the  policy  which  you  recommend,  and  of  all 
you  have  done.  If  the  American  Government  will  meet 
us  halfway,  we  will  meet  it  in  the  same  spirit.'  I  said, 
*  I  have  instructions  here  to  the  United  States  Minister 
from  his  Government,  if  I  found  you  willing,  to  enter 
at  once  in  this  spirit  to  settle  by  immediate  negotiations 
all  existing  differences.*  Lord  Aberdeen  said,  '  I  am 
quite  ready  to  meet  Mr.  McLane  on  these  conditions.'  " 

^  Quoted  in  the  Co-operative  News^  August  6,   1904,  from  Do??iestic 
Manners  of  the  America?is,  2  vols.,  1832, 


346  ROBERT   OWEN 

Owen  accordingly  communicated  the  message  to  Mr. 
McEanc,  a  meeting  with  Eord  Aberdeen  was  arranged, 
and  all  differences  between  the  two  countries  were,  Owen 
tells  us,  amicably  settled  ;  until  some  years  later  the 
Oregon  dispute  again  gave  occasion  for  his  friendly 
intervention.' 

'  Ijnndcn  Invcstif^ator,  Vol.  III.,  p.  247.  For  the  Oregon  question 
and  Owen's  share  in  it,  see  below  Chapter  xxiii.  Again  the  reader 
should  be  reminded  that  we  have  only  Owen's  own  version  of  these 
incidents. 


END    OF    VOL.     l 


PtiHltd  by  Hatell,  H'atson  iS*  i  tney,  Ld.,  London  and  AyUsbury.